Sprouting

Spouting is a ritual practiced by some ethnicities of peiktari. It involves the grafting of a plant onto the skin/bark of a peiktar.

History

Peiktari have always been a people with a higher-than-usual connection to nature. They come from trees, and they believe that in death, they return to trees.
Peiktari themselved to not sprout leaves, however, much to their chagrin. As their communities developed, they would find ways to emulate the appearance of leaves. Wearing leaves or flowers attached to their bodies was out of the question, as that would kill the leaves and was seen as an unnecessary creulty. So, they settled for dangling jewellery in the shape of or capturing the essence of leaves.
With more recent technology, however, a new way to wear actual leaves was introduced. By cconnecting the leaves to the branches of the peiktar in a specific way, the water from the peiktar was able to sustain the life of these leaves.

Execution

In order to properly sprout a peiktar, they need to have substantial enough branches on their heads, at least one of which must contain a bend of some sort. This bend allows the grafter to connect the stem of a leaf to the central xylem and phloem of the branch, so that the nutrients of the peiktar can be used to sustain the sprouting plant.
The next step is to carefully slice into the bark of the desired spot on the peiktar's head. This must be done with caution, to avoid affecting any nerved, but even when done properly is painful to the peiktar. Once the bark has been sliced into, the stem of the desired plant is inserted.
For the next few days, careful monitoring of the sprout and its health, as well as the health of the peiktar, is essential. If the sprouting plant begins to take too many nutrients from the peiktar, it may have to be removed, or the peiktar may need to take supplements. If the plant begins to die, it should also be removed, as the decaying matter could prove dangerous to the peiktar.
Generally, the sign of a succesful sprouting is the growth of a new leaf on the stem of the original. This is a sign that the plant has been able to survive through the peiktar's nutrients, and as long as there are no detrimental effects to the peiktar, the plant is now able to safely remain, and such observation is no longer necessary. The length of time that this takes is dependent on both the sprouting plant and the peiktar.

Suitable Sprouts

There are some plants that are better for sprouting than others. The preferred kind of sprout for most peiktari is a wide-leafed plant, but some prefer to have the added colours of flowers or berries. The latter two options are a bit more risky, however, and have a higher chance of failure.
The plant type that is typically the most successful when sprouting is plants with needle leaves. These plants are able to survive year-round, and will not do any worse in the winter then they would in the spring. Seasonal plants, on the other hand, require some magic to upkeep during the months where the plant would normally go dormant.
Annual plants, as opposed to perrenial plants, are highly discouraged against for use in sprouting. As those plants die when it gets too cold, they require much more nutrients and magic on the part of the sprouted peiktar. However, peiktari able to maintain such plants are seen as impressive in their connection to nature, and so such plants are highly desireable despite their upkeep.