Gold Grass

Basic Information

Anatomy

The stalks of Gold Grass are long, thin tubes of a dry yellow-beige color, giving the plant, and thus the region, its name, that emerge from the sand in isolation, as opposed to the clumps that most grasses do. This may indicate that each stalk of Gold Grass is its own plant, or that the point where it connects to a root system is somewhat far below the surface. The true length of these is unknown, as any attempt to excavate one of the plants has failed to produce results, ending only in a large hole with no signs of a root system. Once above ground, the stalks are able to grow to almost 3 meters in height before they collapse from their own weight.
At the tip of each stalk of Gold Grass is a structure that superficially resembles a fully ripe wheat head, a roughly cylindrical cluster of oblong growths with a longer thread at the tip. Despite appearances, these structures are not part of the plants reproductive system, but are in fact small chambers that the grass uses to extract moisture from the air.

Genetics and Reproduction

It is not currently know how Gold Grass reproduces. The lack of apparent faculties above ground have led a few scholars to theorize that the plant is either a large colony, similar to the aspen trees of higher elevations, or reproduces through some other subterranean means.

Growth Rate & Stages

Gold Grass stalks emerge from the sand as a thin, reed like strand. At a height if a few inches, they begin to form the water collecting structure at the tip. Stalks of Gold Grass will grow at a rate of almost two inches per day until they reach the same height as the stalks around them. It is unknow how or why the completely stop growing at this point, but it gives the region a false appearance of being very flat.

Ecology and Habitats

Gold Grass is only know to grow in the Gold Plain. A few attempts by scholars to take cuttings of the plant for research have only ended in failure.
The interaction between the Gold Grass and the sands of the Gold Plain are the primary cause for difficulty in plotting routes through the region. The frequent sandstorms that roam the region may either remove of deposit sand from an area at a moderately rapid rate, changing the effective height of the grass and concealing the topology of the land. Some explorers have reported visiting a field of neck high grass one day, only to come back the next, after a storm, to find the same grass reaching only to their ankles.

Lifespan

Unknown

Geographic Distribution

• The Gold Plain