Purple Starflowers, aka Kesma's Gift

Purple flowers grow in the marshy forests that goblins favor, low to the ground and often mixed with other herbs; it's a sociable plant. Many think of it as a useless weed, as its medicinal uses are limited and cooking uses almost nonexistent. It's a mild hallucinogen on its own, causing euphoria and bringing a purple tinge to the world, but its real value is in beeswax. Bees who've fed on purple starflowers make wax that can bring visions of other worlds; shamans use it to contact the spirit world. It's one of the goblins' major trade goods with humans and dwarves; elves think it's too uncontrolled to be useful and disdain its abilities.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Short thick stalks, fist-size flowers with hundreds of thin spiky-looking petals. (Looks like artichoke flowers.) Seed pods are under the petals, and look a bit like lotus pods but with smaller seeds.

Genetics and Reproduction

Fertilized by bees and sometimes other insects (there are butterflies that pollinate flowers one flower can produce up to half a dozen seeds, and a single plant can have as many as nine flowers--very prolific.

Growth Rate & Stages

They've got a short growing cycle, and as long as the temperature's in the right range and they have enough water, they can grow and blossom year-round. They quickly grow long roots before budding - many gardeners have discovered they're almost impossible to remove before they blossom, at which point the whole plant weakens.

Ecology and Habitats

They evolved in swamp bogs and that's where they thrive, although some have managed to grow them in boxed gardens elsewhere. They prefer indirect lighting and very wet ground.

They are resistant to disease and blight. They spread to fill an area but don't usually squeeze out other plants, although they can cause problems for those that need open space.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Needs lots of water. Wants soil that's rich in decayed plant matter but can be light on other nutrients. Grows better in shady places. In case of drought, it usually manages to produce healthy seeds, which can remain dry for years and then grow normally when planted.

Biological Cycle

From seed to flower is less than two months; they can do several growth cycles in a year. They are remarkably consistent: if they have the conditions they need, they grow near-identical plants; if they don't, they don't grow. They want near-tropical weather; if it's too cold, they won't sprout.

Additional Information

Domestication

Domesticated by goblins, whose gardening habits are fairly unstructured. It gets planted in goblin villages, and left untended when the semi-nomadic tribe moves on. The next tribe is likely to restart the crop in the same area, using the dead plants for seeds.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Mild euphoric hallucinogen - the flowers are dried and smoked. The leaves are sometimes used for cooking, but their effects are much, much less noticeable. Wax made from the flowers is much more potent, and can cause world-walking among those who have the training for it. It's said the spirit of the flower sometimes visits those who use the wax (it can be chewed or cooked with he is a bodiless flower-head with swirling eyes and a long purple tongue, and fringe that quivers even when there is no wind.

Facial characteristics

If you see facial characteristics, you've been smoking too much of it.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Grows naturally in secluded pockets of firebogs. Can be cultivated elsewhere, and many goblin villages have an herb garden with a purple starflower section.

Average Intelligence

Plant

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

It has no perceptive abilities; it's a plant. However, some goblin gardeners insist that the flowers can detect an inexperienced gardener and refuse to produce seeds for them. The general consensus is that these gardeners have been sampling the crops.

Origin/Ancestry

Nothing is similar - all attempts to crossbreed starflowers have failed.

Lifespan

About three months - annuals, not perennials.

Conservation Status

None needed - while it only grows in a limited range of terrains (swamps and bogs), it's very sturdy, fast-growing, and produces large blooms and plenty of seeds.

Average Height

12-18 inches

Average Weight

A few ounces to a half pound

Average Physique

Tougher than it looks, but... plant.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Purple flowers, green stalks and leaves.