Ponyan Vine & Flower

Ponyan Vine & Flower

The Ponyan Vine is a rope-like vine, usually three separate strands interlaced, growing intertwined in a clockwise motion. The fine usually takes on a clay-like coloration ranging from a dark beige to a dirty orange. The vines themselves are covered in hair-like spines that allow them to cling to one another and the structures on which they grow. The vines are also hollow, acting as water channels. If you follow the root of a mature Ponyan Vine there is often a sack structure that contains the water storage. Ponyan Vines have been recorded to grow up to five miles, with water sacks growing for every yard or so of vine. For vines this long it is unsure if it is really one long vine, or several that melded into one.

The Ponyan Flower is a three petalled flower, the petals having a feather-like texture. The feathers act as buckets, gathering water in the sparse rains of the Lonthan Desert. The flowers are most commonly recorded as a dark red. In the dry season the flower dry up and fall, leaving only the vine behind. In the two months in which there is rainfall, the flowers bud, opening at the first rain.

Habitat

The Ponyan Vines are found exclusively in the Lonthan Desert. As a clinging vine it often grows in the sparse ruins of the Desert, though it can be found sporadically around in the sand as well. There has been no success in cultivating the Ponyan Vine in greenhouses.

Uses

The Ponyan Vine has two historic uses. 

1. The nomadic tribes of the Lonthan Desert use the Ponyan Vine as a water source, historically using the water sacks for carrying water.
2. The Ponyan Vine has been an important part of finding desert ruins. Following to the source of fallen and wind-blown petals has led to many successes in locating ruins, and there have been several cases of Ponyan Vines anchored to long-buried ruins beneath the sands of the Lonthan.

Variations

While scarce, there are recorded variations of the Ponyan Vine, largely in the color that the vines and flowers can grow. There is also a recorded variety of Ponyan Vine that grows up the Border Mountains to the east of the Lonthan Desert.