Pajshauv

Pajshauv, or the Ash Flower, is a poorly understood plant that blooms in the desert wastes of Leaait. The seeds, pollen, and sap of the flower are highly prized for their fire-retardant nature, but efforts to grow pajshauv outside of Leeait have been largely unsuccessful. Collection of pajshauv is limited to very brave (or desperate) people from Endref who venture into the southern deserts of Leeait and try to find some pajshauv before they succumb either to the extreme heat, dehydration, exhaustion, or any local wildlife.
Pajshauv blooms vary in colour, ranging from grey-black to yellow-orange. Reports of red pajshauv have been known to occur, but many remain sceptical. The pajshauv plant blooms in tight clusters of narrow individual flowers that have curling and wavy petals whcih extend out from black centres filled with a pollen-like powder. Typcical pajshauv plants will stay in bloom for nearly their entire life cycle, with the first flowers coming in black and eventually brightening to yellow before death. It is dangerous to keep or try to grow pajshauv flowers due to the way in which they die: they burst into an extremely hot flame (which can melt metal) for a few seconds, starting from the centre of the blooms.
The pajshauv plant itself is somewhat woody and rigid, with long narrow leaves. The roots of the pajsahuv extend deep into the sands or soil where the plant grows, which points to its known growing cycle. The powder at the centre of the pajshauv flower contains pajshauv seeds, and the wind blows these seeds across the sand or soil. However, these seeds will not grow until they are subjected to intense heat (usually fire) at which point they will send a thin root winding deep into the earth. When the root hits a mineral deposit of any kind, the plant takes stock and grows from the ground, blossoming from seedling to full height (approximately 3 feet) within a cycle. If the seed (or plant) is exposed to too much water (which is a very small amount for the pajshauv), it will dissolve completely. Once grown, pajshauv plants will remain for approximately one deoch, though if it rains, they will die.
Some very enterprising Endref merchants have tried to use pajshauv blooms as an indication of where a mine could be established, but the only known successful growing conditions have been found to be very arid, sandy ground.