Kava
A grass stronger than steel
This plant, growing much like bamboo on Earth, towers to heights of over one hundred meters in this low-gravity environment. Technically, if classified by the Linnaean system used for Earth plants, this plant would more likely fit into the "grass" classification. A sample taken back to base measured a tensile strength greater than steel.The Kava plant, also known as the Adamantine Grass, is an especially strong species of grass that is prevalent across much of the Eastern Gate Alliance within the dome. Outside the Dome, the grass grows across a landmass the size of Australia, where the Drone headquarters are located. Culturally for those within the Eastern Gate Alliance, the Kava represents adaptability as well as strength.– Preliminary Report on Flora, received by Earth 2460 A.D.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Adamantine Grass is composed of a Claran analog to xylem and phloem, and has a hollow core, like bamboo on Earth. However, unlike bamboo, generally only one to three shoots grow per plant, and the rhizomes that enable horizontal growth are not present.
As with bamboo, it grows with several different segments, referred to as internodes, connected together by seams (referred to as nodes). Unlike bamboo, this plant is reinforced with several especially strong cellulose strands growing perpendicular to the node seams between the segments. This gives it tensile strength stronger than steel, which allows it to grow tall enough to outcompete many other shorter trees.
Also unlike bamboo on Earth, the plant clusters its leaves near the top of the bamboo stalk, leaving the bottom mostly bare. This is to help get what sunlight it can, given that it is often cloudy or foggy in its habitats.
Genetics and Reproduction
The plant reproduces unlike most plants on Earth, scattering spores when it can to disperse its offspring nearby. The spores are scattered easily in the windy, misty forests. They are found under the leaves of the plant. Another interesting characteristic it shares with Earth plants is alternation of generations: they reproduce asexually in one generation, and then sexually in the next.
Ecology and Habitats
The kava plant, by virtue of its great strength, can create forests of its own even though it technically is a grass. The plant's forests are best shown in the marshy soil of southern Zentland, where it thrives, growing a deep taproot to stabilize itself against winds.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The Halora currently does not use the kava plant as a building material, but just as a skyscraper itself. Due to its incredibly hard wood and great strength, the creatures are hard-pressed to find things that could cut through the main stem.Throughout their stone-age development, the Brown Halora has used this plant. First, they would only be able to cut off smaller, side branches and leaves, to help make their nests directly on the strong, swaying grass. Later, as they began development of bronze, things changed. The kava grass was and still is sacred to many Halora. Because of this, the main development of agriculture did not infringe on much of the kava forest, and instead spread through the grassland of Central Zentland. Every time a kava was cut down to build something, there would be a large ceremony, and the times the material was mass-used is rare.– Archived Report
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The kava plant was theorized to have thrived in an earlier epoch, termed the Garden of Eden stage informally by scientists investigating biology.
Formally, the Paradisus Epoch is the epoch before the current stage of increasing glaciation, in which the moon was almost globally forested. Even now, the kava exist on every continent of Clara, from Zentland at the equator to Gloran in the arctic.
Scientific Name
Herbarbor adamanteus
Origin/Ancestry
Clara
Lifespan
Unknown, high in optimum conditions
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Average Height
80-100 m
Average Weight
Variable
Related Materials
Cross-Section of Plant by ElementalShrike
Navigation
Flora (Producers): Primary Consumers: Secondary Consumers:Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
A gorgeous explanation as to why they're so strong! Does it bend under its own weight with time? How is its root structure—even with lower gravity I'd imagine the wind + mass would put a lot of strain on the roots so they must be quite complex or deep! Do any societies use it from building or weaponry? If so, how do they refine it?
Check out my summercamp by going here and checking out any of my gold-star articles!
It mainly has a long taproot, deep into the marshy ground, as well as branching roots to stabilize it in three dimensions. It does not bend under its own weight, but it does sway with the wind. Societies may use it, but in the early stages of development, they couldn't break it, it was so strong :) Edited.