Black Pillar Brambles
Basic Information
Anatomy
Where the brambles have not yet deeply taken root and begun to seriously overtake the other plantlife in the area, Black Pillar brambles are almost impossible to differentiate from other, mundane species. Once Black Pillar takes over as the dominant species however, the brambles grow to daunting heights even without structure underneath to climb up, and overall dimensions of the plant hugely increase. Mature Black Pillar plants average five to eight feet tall, with branches averaging two inches thick, bearing thorns that are regularly around three inches long. Old plants are even bigger. As the plant grows and branches mature, thinner branches begin to sprout and reach out that bear much smaller, denser, "stickier" thorns. When caught in a Black Pillar bramble, it is these smaller spine covered branches that keep a creature hopelessly tangled while the larger thorns are responsible for the real damage.
There are main, gnarled stalks that the branches originate from, but they are almost impossible to locate amongst the dangerous mass of foliage. The whiplike branches continuously grow out from the central stalk until huge, looping tangles of bramble are formed. Amongst the thorns that run along the lengths of these branches are small leaves, as well as flowers that bloom once a year in very early spring. The clusters of rose-like flowers are small and fragrant, and range from a dark ruby red, through rust orange, to a light, coppery tan. The leaves of the plant as well as the rosehips that result from the flowers are a dark, camouflaging reddish-brown.
Genetics and Reproduction
Because of the flowers that bloom and form rosehips afterward, it is assumed that the plant can reproduce and spread via seeds, and that there are likely species of animals that help in the pollination of the flowers and the spreading of the seeds, but the details are unknown. The primary way that the brambles grow are in spreading outward in a slowly encroaching wave. Once the branches have matured and sent out a certain amount of "grabber" branches, the next stage of life is that the branches send out feeders that dig down and find new purchase in the earth. The mature branches that first root in a section of ground then become main stalks, the grabbing branches to the now-central stalk dies off, along with some of the weaker branches around the new stalk, and brand new branches begin to grow out of the stalk to start the cycle again.
Ecology and Habitats
Black Pillar brambles are fround only in Greymantle Marsh, primarily in the Black Pillar Bog, from where the plant got its name. Attempts (as ill-advised as they may be) to plant the brambles in other locations or soils, has been met with mixed results, but no cultivated or transplanted crop of them has ever reached the sort of voracious success that they have found in that particular area.
Despite the fact that the plant seems to be native to the area, as it has been found nowhere else, it is considered a highly destructive species which covers and chokes out all other plantlife, even displacing many wildlife species.
Dietary Needs and Habits
While it is assumed to behave and feed like most other mundane plants, the fact that the bramble's growth seems to surge once it begins to become the dominant species in the area suggests that it may also act as a parasitic species to those around it. There is also speculation that the vicious way that the thorns wound creatures is not just for defensive purposes. It's not uncommon to find corpses of creatures tangled and rotting in its thorns, and bones still caught deep in the overgrown depths of the brambles.
Additional Information
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Dense thickets of Black Pillar brambles are where Briarfolk are primarily found, and as neither species tends to be found without the other nearby, it is generally assumed that one is either supported by or the is the cause of the other, but it is unknown in what way.
Conservation Status
Very rare, but extremely prolific and pernicious in the locations where it is found.
Geographic Distribution