I haven't developed plants much in my world...nor do I have any genius ideas. So I shall start a thread!

What kinds of plants do you have in your world?
How do you develop your plants?
What's your favorite plant that you have invented?

Bethany Faith

Well, first of all, you can find out what kind of plants I've created in my own thread: Flora-Oakut Tree and Sardonian

Secondly, I don't have any secret formula for developing plants. I just think them up. Very simple. I just let my imagination off its leash and see where it takes me.

Hmm, my favorite plant so far...I think my favorite plant so far would have to be the Suath Haman (see my thread).

So far, I just use Earth plants. Oak, pine, milkweed, you get the picture.
As I keep developing my story and world, I might need to invent plants. For example, I need herbs for a concoction that makes an excellent skin lotion-conditioner-curl gel. I don't know if any actual plants with these properties exist, but they might. (Research!)
In short, I intend to make the foliage part feel familiar. Like J.R.R Tolkien did.

Being an herbalist (no, I'm not licensed), and an essential oil freak, I love weaving plants into my stories. I don't have a lot of them, but I personally am always intrigued when authors think about the plants of their world. I view it as being thorough, and it helps to submerse me in their world's culture.

I primarily mention plants when they have a medicinal use, or create a chemical reaction. I find this works best for me, although an occasional moment of reflection on a plant would not be bad, story wise, I feel.

Beyond general types of plants that grow in different climates in my world I have few of my own invention. Currently there are only two that I am using. One is a small plant with with clusters of half dollar sized flat pods with seeds in them; taking one of these seeds will give one a mild trip and is used as pain killer.
The other is a round mushroom just big enough to fit in a hand. It is a dull brown and when it is squeezed it lets go a puff of reddish vapor. This vapor is what Berserk warriors use to send themselves into a berserkers rage.

The only special plant (so far) that I have developed in my world is a yet-to-be-named plant that's sap can be harvested and used as a fire starter.

Anyways, just thought I'd pop in and say that, forgotten I'd made this thread.

Bethany Faith

Cool! That would be a handy plant to have around! Are you looking for names?

Thanks!

I haven't started looking for a name yet, I plan to draw it first then I'll probably look up some good Hebrew names.

So far I have been using mainly earth plants, until it comes to my elves.

The elves have many healing herbs, including one that doubles or sometimes triples the speed of recovery from injuries. So far none of the herbs are named.

The elves also have a tree called the Zalen Draeo Which I talk a bit about here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3357, which grows around the lakes of Celinorel and have glowing blue leaves. The elves extract the oil from the leaves and rub it on their bowstrings, which prevent them from going slack in the rain.

Other than that, I haven't put much thought into the Fauna.

Oooh, plants.

As far as plants go, I have two or three original herbs, and the rest I just go with real world flora. I generally use plants when I'm too lazy to think up some healing substance or something explosive (funny, the lazier I feel the more my imagination works).

Anyway for plants I have the herbs Passionflame and Earthen Snowsong, one heals wounds, the other heals the mind. I have something else called Dragonstar, but I'm not sure what special purpose it has yet.
My favorite has to be Earthen Snowsong, it was the first one I created. Passionflame is a close second, though.

I don't have any special plants in my world. Flora-wise, it is completely the same to earth... I think... I may have invented some sort of bush just so I could say I have Flora...

I have a few plants in my subforum, I think. Other than that, not much

Just wanted to pop in and mention that Airianna's plants are amazing! They tie into the story and everything

eru

They are? *feels happy inside * Well that helped boost my day. I'm working on re-writes. Thanks, Eruheran. I'll be sure to keep the plants in.

The plant I've read about so far in your book is great! I like the concept of the sweet marshmallow tumbleweed.

*chuckles *

@Airi: It's the plant that is molt-resistant that I am fascinated by I'd love to see some of that in real life

eru

*smiles * Ah, that one.

*has just reached that point in the story*

Ditto to what Eru said.

*claps happily and goes off to write *

Hmm... I have two so far...

One's a flower called Bluphire. It is extremely acidic and dangerous to touch. Ingestion can cause death in most creatures. What wonderful things I come up with...

The other is a tree called a Syllver. Its leaves are silver on the underside and it is mainly used to cover scents when hunting.

I don't have many plants yet but I mostly make them up symbolically or from stuff like "huh wouldn't it be neat if" situations.

My favorite is Crowned Jasmine (anyone wanna guess where I got the name?) and Melany uses it often in her medical work. I also have one that's sort of a cross between a coconut and a pomegranate but I haven't named it yet...

I haven't given much thought to this, except that there will be evergreen trees and redwoods (I love both of these!) and also a mammoth tree of some sort (I haven't named it yet). I actually plan on having a forest of absolutely HUMONGOUSLINORMOUS trees that entire cities inhabit.
I also want to have Venus Flytraps, which will probably get a lot bigger there than they do in this world, and also will be a bit more hardy, some species of them even freezing solid and then recovering in the springtime.

I have three so far.

One is a shrub with thorns along its twigs that function as limbs.

The other two I have some information on in a gdoc... *digs up* (one quick warning: a few of the details are inaccurate, but it is mostly correct)

Flower of Death: A beautiful flower (famed as being the most brilliant, delicate, and pure flower outside of Floreí) that only grows in the jagged mountaintops of a range of mountains near one of the realms of the elves.
To obtain a Flower of Death, one must go on a perilous quest through the mountains in hopes that after passing through the 2-inch paths near a 10-mile drop, climbing the rock faces that can’t be gone around, avoiding the animals that threaten your death, and traveling through pitch dark caves that offer even more perils (usually related to the ones already listed), you find one of these extremely rare flowers.
Any who carry them are given a high-degree of honor and respect.
Note: It is likely that they are poisonous (perhaps to the touch?) but this author doesn’t know yet.

The Carnivirous Vine: A vine that “eats” animals and, sometimes, humans.
The vine has large leaves (a lot like fig leaves), small crawlers, and one large bulb in the center of its territory. It mostly travels underground and will slowly infest outwards in a circle from the central bulb. The vine’s seeds reside inside the petals of a flower that grows on the top of the bulb. When the vine’s seeds are ready for dispersion, a certain bird comes to eat the flower and eventually drops and fertilizes the seed in the next couple days.
The vine generally lives [insert place] and needs massive amounts of sunlight and heat to survive. In order to create seeds, the vine needs [insert medical mumbo-jumbo] from meat.
An animal that travels into the territory of the vine brushes against feelers on the vine’s leaves. If the animal’s body temperature is large enough to set off the feelers, the vine will rapidly grow thorned-offshoots that will attempt to puncture the animal’s skin. If the poison gets in the blood stream, the animal will become unconscious and easily succumb to the plant. Once the animal has no chance of escape the vine slowly brings the animal back to the central bulb where it will be “digested” by the bulbs acids.
Though the vine normally eats a type of warm-skinned boar, the vine will eat anything that sets off its feelers. Thus, humans/elves/dwarves must be careful when they are in an area suspected of harboring this vine, especially if they have a fever.

Ooh, creepy vine! Nice, Sui!

Very cool, Suiauthon.

They're awesome, and scary!

Thank you, all!

I'm going to have to make a nice plant sometime.

I've made nasty plants, nice plants, and some plants that are somewhere in the middle.

*chuckles* And as I recall you haven't told us anything about them yet. *waits for Jonathan to enlighten us*

I'll probably post something about them at some point.

That would be good.

I look forward to it.

Wow. Those are amazing plants!!!

As for my own plants... oh boy. I could be here awhile.... haha

I'll just mention a few of my favorites.

• Sakkar Root: a reddish root, supple and rubbery in texture. When flexed between the hands, it produces several fleshy snaps (almost a glow-stick sort of noise) and begins to ooze sakkar. Sakkar--the plant's long-stored, highly-concentrated sap--is what the root is valued for. It is fatal if ingested orally, as it reacts harmfully with oral acids. It must be absorbed through the skin; it dispels stress-inducing physical conditions, and therefore is a helpful psychological healer for victims of black sorcery.
• Leech Leaves: parasitic flowers with fleshy white petals and pulpy, red-veined leaves. Their foul, stifling smell saturates the air. It is overwhelmingly repulsive to one who has never smelled it before; but it acts as a drug. Once one has become inured to the smell, he/she becomes dependent on it. If they cannot smell it, they suffocate. The plants have been used for millennia to keep people in submission. As a weapon of war, they are planted in conquered cities. Citizens develop their addiction to the odor quickly, and once that addiction is formed, there is no escape from any place where those flowers don't grow. Plus, Leech Leaves serve a second purpose: they feed off corpses. Thus, in conquered cities, not only do Leech Leaves keep people shackled to the place in which they are held captive, but the leaves also dispose quite efficiently of the dead. Whenever anyone dares rebel, a new little patch of flowers is found the next day.
• Axelfrah: a rare, all-purpose healing plant. It looks like something halfway between bamboo and milkweed--yes, that's the closest comparison I know. The stalks, when shredded and dried, can be woven into a healing cloth, softer than any bandage. The sap and the leaf essence, when mixed and concentrated, make a minty-smelling ointment. If one applies axelfrah ointment to open wounds and binds the injuries up with axelfrah cloth, both bandages and ointment absorb into the skin, toughening it to ten times normal density and resiliency. The bandages form little scale-like formations that eventually fade. Any remaining bandages which cannot join the skin simply flake off like dandruff. Highly diluted axelfrah juice (twenty parts pure water to one part sap) can be internally ingested, and acts as an intestinal healer. Slightly less diluted axelfrah juice (ten parts pure water to one part sap) can stop hemorrhaging.

Leech leaves = epic.
Very simple concept and effective application.

Thank you, Cephron!

Those are neat plants, Phoenix.

Thanks, Jonathan!

Wow, awesome plants, Kayla! I never thought of plants being a little like an addictive drug before. Totally neat. Is there any way to reverse the addicting effects of Leech Leaves, or is it permanent?

One of the best ways to do it.

Great job on the plants, everyone. Wish I could comment on all of them . . . they are brilliant. (But remind me not to travel anywhere where those carnivorous/addictive plant varieties live, ok?)

A while ago, I came up with a gigantic tree called the "Sunshade Tree". It houses entire clans of Elves. Each clan, for example, the "Deuce Clan" has two trees to its clan. One tree holds their village, while the other holds their wildlife.
The tree is a canopy of head-sized leaves above a nest-like formation that holds the clan's houses.
The Elves climb inside by means of plate fungi that have grown along the ginormous tree trunk - with the help of thick arm-sized vines that dangle from the canopy hundreds of feet above.
Indigenous to the trees are birds - the Amorith birds - that make their homes in the canopy. The birds are small, like hummingbirds, but their feathers are crimson red and glow at night. They never leave the trees, for grub is plentiful under the fallen leaves that cover the ground of the nest-like surface of the Sunshade Tree.

FYI: all material in this post is copyrighted. Thank you!

Wow, that's one cool tree!

Thanks!

I'm working on Headless trees right now.

Awesome, Danko!

Thanks, I'm having trouble writing it out.

You could try drawing it out instead.

I'm not that good...

Well, I was thinking it might help you visualize it a bit easier so you could describe it, but you don't have to if you don't want.

What kinds of plants do you have in your world?---I've only created one. : P It's called queensmint. Don't ask why. I have no idea where it came from.
How do you develop your plants?---Well, for queensmint (Queen's Mint) I was thinking about Tolkien's 'kingsfoil' and thought it would be cool to do something like that. I love mint plants, so I took the word Queen and you get the general idea. XD
What's your favorite plant that you have invented?---Queensmint! XD

One I've thought up recently is a semi-carnivorous tree. It doesn't 'eat' meat in the traditional sense, but it lives in regions with very barren soil, so it needs fertilizing supplements (this is why there are so many insectivorous plants; they need the nitrogen that is found in bugs). The roots spread out in the loose soil and greatly weaken the ground in a circle around the tree (not under the tap root itself; the roots are stronger there). The flowers have a sweet smell that attract animals and sometimes people who, if unaware of the tree's true nature, will often fall in among the roots and be unable to escape. There they die, away from the grasp of scavengers and the beaks of vultures. The bodies rot into the soil and give the tree the food it needs, and the wind blows the soil back over the tangled roots to hide where old holes might have been.