Elanthian Flora Guide/Plants and Herbs

Elanthian Flora Guide: Plants and Herbs is an Official GemStone IV Document, and it is protected from editing.

Follow the plant and herb link for a description of that plant and herb:

IMT=Icemule Trace, KD=Kharam Dzu, MH=Mist Harbor, PTP=Pinefar, RR=River's Rest, SOL=Solhaven, TI=Ta'Illistim, TV=Ta'Vaalor, WL=Wehnimer's Landing, ZL=Zul Logoth

Plant and Herb	Uses	IMT	KD	MH	PTP	RR	SOL	TI	TV	WL	ZL
Acantha	Noted for its herbal properties when the leaves are eaten, restores a portion of blood.					X	X	X	X	X	X
Aloeas	When the stems are consumed, bleeding from the head or neck staunches, both internal and external, and of healing bruising of the brain.									X
Ambrominas	When consumed, it has the property of healing the minor cuts, bruises, and scrapes.									X
Angelica	The edible root, leaves, and stalks are popular for baking and liqueurs. Also used in potions to replace missing limbs.	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Anise	n/a
Asparagus	n/a
Bulrush	Found in OTF
Bur-clover	The roots of the bur-clover plant can be finely-ground into a powder and combined with other ingredients to make a healing potion, helpful for missing eyes.									X
Burdock	The edible young stalks that emerge from the roots, in Spring, are tasty raw or when sautéed.	X			X			X		X	X
Cactacae	When consumed, cactacae spine has the useful property of removing unsightly scars from arms, hands, and legs.									X
Cactus	n/a		X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X
Cactus (strigae)	n/a	X								X
Calamia Fruit	When consumed, calamia fruit can restore a mangled limb to its proper shape and form.									X
Carrot (common)	n/a
Carrot (wild)	n/a									X
Cattails	n/a	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Chicory	n/a	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Cinquefoil	n/a										X
Corn	n/a					X	X	X
Cothinar	When consumed, cothinar flowers share the properties of acantha leaves, save in that they are a bit more powerful.	X
Cuctucae	When consumed, cuctucae berries shares the properties of acantha, but without the pause for digestion and healing required by acantha.	X								X
Daggit	The edible roots can be mashed and blended to make a potion that replaces missing eyes.				X
Eggplant	n/a					X
Fennel	n/a							X	X	X
Ferns (fiddlehead)	n/a	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Ferns (silver-edged)	n/a							X
Feverfew	The dry leaf, flower and/or seed may be made into tea or tincture, providing a valuable tonic for healing head and neck wounds.				X
Fig (Creeping)	n/a							X
Ginger	Can be used in cooking and baking, as well as candies and teas or other beverages.									X
Ginkgo	Teas and potions can heal eye and torso wounds.				X
Gorse	n/a						X
Haphip	Haphip root has the useful property of removing scarring from the face and neck of those who consume it.									X
Lettuce	n/a									X
Manroot	n/a				X
Marillis	n/a									X
Mustard	n/a							X	X
Nettle	n/a							X	X
Pea	n/a					X
Pennyroyal	Brewed into a tea or potion, it can heal major head and neck wounds.	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Peppermint	n/a									X
Rose-marrow	Small knoblike nodules found on the roots can be made into a healing potion, helpful for minor head and neck wounds.									X
Rosemary	n/a							X	X
Sage (wild)	n/a							X	X
Seaweed (various)	n/a	X			X	X			X
Sovyn	Sovyn clove, when consumed, may miraculously restore an entire missing limb to a person, so long as the limb has not been recently severed.									X
Spearmint	Eating spearmint leaves is good for the breath and is a remarkable digestive aid.									X
Strawberry	n/a	X				X	X	X	X	X
Strawberry (wild)	n/a	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Sweetfern	Edible stalks can be brewed into teas and potions that heal limb wounds.	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Talneo	Small knoblike nodules found on the roots can be made into a healing potion, helpful for minor body and eye scars.									X
Tarweed	Found in OTF.
Teaberry (bright red)	n/a	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Thyme	n/a							X	X
Tkaro	When the root of the tkaro plant is eaten, it has the effect of silencing the inner voices you hear in your head (amunet and Voln) for several minutes.	X				X
Tomato	Delicious fresh and raw, especially when sliced and slightly salted. Used in cooking to create sauces. Paste made from the fruit can also serve as a thickener.									X
Torban	When consumed, the leaves of the Torban tree can treat minor nervous system defects, such as slurred speech.									X
Turnip	Great when baked with a little butter.							X	X
Valerian	The edible root is good for teas, potions, and serves as an aid for nerve and sleeping disorders.	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Water Chestnut	n/a		X			X	X		X	X
Wingstem	The small knoblike nodules found on the roots can be made into a healing potion, good for major eye and torso scars.									X
Wintergreen	n/a	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Wormwood	n/a					X		X	X
Woth Flower	When consumed, woth flower can heal serious defects of the nervous system, such as involuntary spasms or constant convulsions.									X
Wyrmwood	The poisonous (to people) bark can be brewed in tiny quantities as a tea, healing torso scars and eye wounds. Can also be made into a potion.				X
Yabathilium	When consumed, yabathilium fruit has astonishing powers to restore blood and strength to those who have been injured.							X		X

Descriptions

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Acantha: Acantha can be found in climates ranging from near desert to moist ocean beaches. The plant features elongated light green leaves.

Aloeas: Moss green leaves with long stems, similar in shape to the oak leaf, routinely sold for its medicinal properties and may also be foraged wild. The small tree displays the ability to turn towards the movements of the sun (this is known as heliotropism), and might be related to the heliotrope. Aloeas grows in colder, wet areas, such as along riverbanks.

Ambrominas

Ambrominas: Ambrominas bushes have oval leaves of a dark green hue, routinely sold for its medicinal properties and may also be foraged wild. It grows in grasslands and hilly areas.

Angelica: Commercially found in Pinefar, grown in climates that afford rich soils with a sufficient rainfall to avoid drought. Short-lived, once the plant flowers, it goes to seed.

Anise: A bulbous plant with feathery foliage that flowers and goes to seed. Licorice flavor, often used in baking, candy, or liqueur. Can be boiled like a vegetable. Often found at special celebrations.

Asparagus: Fern-like plant that loves a moist habitat, also a spring vegetable. Stalks are edible when young and before they flower. Often found at special celebrations.

B

Bulrush: Aquatic or wetland herbs having grasslike leaves and usually clusters of small, often brown spikelets. Similar to cattails and papyrus.

Bur-Clover: This prostrate, spreading plant, related to the alfalfa/sweet clover family, hugs the ground. Its creeping stems may vary in length from a few inches to several feet. Leaflets are very similar to clover, but occasionally have whitish and dark red spots across the surface. Stems are round and smooth, and the yellow-orange flowers gather in very loose clusters. Seed pods appear spirally twisted and are covered with hooked spines, or barbs.

Burdock: Weedy plants bearing pink or purplish flower heads surrounded by prickly bracts and forming a bur in fruit. Try your hand at gathering one, and test this taste treat.

C

Cactacae: Routinely sold for its medicinal properties, may also be foraged wild. Has sharp long brown thorns. Cactacae cactus grows in desert or near-desert conditions.

Cactus: Succulent, spiny, usually leafless plants native mostly to arid regions, often bearing variously colored, showy flowers. If you're very careful, you can forage around the spines and come away with a flower.

Cactus (strigae): The flesh of the strigae cactus possesses properties akin to the properties of cuctucae berries, but the spines are sufficiently sharp that acquiring the flesh may do as much harm as the herb can heal. Flat and paddle-shaped, the cactus plants supposedly grow abundantly in desert areas.

Calamia Fruit: The fruit of the calamia plant is large and a light red color close to pink. Routinely sold for its medicinal properties and may also be foraged wild. The properties of calamia are greatest when the fruit has been dried, but few bother to do so, seeing as the fruit is amazingly effective when fresh. Calamia grows in very warm, moist climates.

Carrot (common): Vegetable with an edible orange root and leafy green stalks. Often found at special celebrations.

Carrot (wild): Brackets of tiny white flowers clustered on stalks. Found by roadsides and in meadows, a favorite plant for ladybugs.

Cattails: Cattails are probably the most familiar of all wetland plants. Their swaying brown flower clusters can be seen at the edges of ponds, rivers, lakes, or just about any place where there is shallow, standing water for at least part of the year. The common cattail can grow up to nine feet in height. Probably the most distinctive thing about the cattails are their flowers, as each possesses thousands of tiny brown flowers all tightly compressed into a compact mass on the top of their stems. During late summer and early autumn, these structures will begin to come apart, releasing their seeds into the wind as they do so.

Chicory: A perennial herb, chicory has rayed flower heads with usually blue florets. Often, the root is ground and used for a coffee substitute, or as an adulterant. The leaves of the chicory plant can be used in salads and soups, despite the fact that it imparts a slight bitterness.

Cinequefoil: Common cinquefoil stems are hairy and grow somewhat prostrate along the ground. The more ornamental varieties can rise up and grow in clumps or tufts, reaching two foot lengths, or grow nearly prostrate along the ground. The leaves are palmately divided into five leaflets, similar to strawberry leaves, coarsely toothed leaflets that have pale undersides. Common cinquefoil flowers are yellow, one per stem and fairly conspicuous.

Corn: Corn is a grain crop that grows on a stalk and produces an "ear." Grain-type corn is not harvested fresh, it is allowed to dry on the stalk and then is harvested with a thresher. This type of corn is used primarily in animal feed or in cereal products.

Cothinar: Cothinar flowers may be foraged wild. Cothinar grows in colder, barren areas, and thrives in the winter months.

Cuctucae: Cuctucae bushes are most readily found in higher elevations and cooler climates, and the small, dusky blue berries may be foraged wild.

D

Daggit: A member of the carrot family, the daggit plant produces a white root with a scarlet blush near the base where it meets the foliage. Red-stemmed green-leafed foliage can be used to create a wine-hued dye.

E

Eggplant: Eggplant belongs to the family that also includes tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. Comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from round and white, to elongated, pear-shaped and deep purple.

F

Fennel: With its umbels of tiny yellow flowers and dark green or bronze wispy leaves, fennel is a decorative addition to the herbaceous border where it makes a good background plant, and often grows rambunctiously in the wild The "fruits" of the fennel plant are often, mistakenly, referred to as seeds. Known for its anise-like flavor and scent.

Ferns (fiddlehead): Fiddlehead ferns are a stage in the growth of all ferns -- the tightly coiled young shoots. They resemble the head of a violin, hence the name. Edible fiddleheads are the fiddleheads of the Ostrich Fern.

Ferns (silver-edged): Rich green fronds variated with an off-white edging. Silver-edged ferns grow along the path to Moonstone Abbey.

Feverfew: The single, white and yellow, daisy-like flowers grow densely on upright bushes.

Fig (creeping): This aggressive, beautiful evergreen vine is a relative of the edible fig, but bears little resemblance to its close cousin. Creeping fig is an enthusiastic climber able to scramble up vertical surfaces when aided and trained. This vine covers surfaces with a tracery of fine stems that are densely covered with small heart-shaped leaves held closely to the surface, creating a mat of foliage. Pale green in color, the fig fruits are very small.

G

Ginger: The large, fleshy rhizome of the plant has a characteristic staghorn-like appearance. Dried ginger is usually sold in form of an off-white to very light brown powder.

Ginkgo: Sometimes called a living fossil, the Ginkgo is one of the oldest living deciduous tree species. Distinctive bi-lobed and fanlike leaves, which turn a beautiful golden yellow in autumn. Produces an edible nut, which needs to be roasted before brewing in tea.

Gorse: Gorse is a spiny evergreen shrub related to the pea family, and is dense and stiff, forming impenetrable thickets. Its erect angular stems have spreading branches ending in thorns and green leaves that take the form of branching spines. Flowers are yellow and shaped like pea-blossoms, clustered near the ends of the branches. Fruit pods resemble pea pods that burst, expelling the seeds. Gorse has been used for wine.

H

Haphip: Routinely sold for its medicinal properties, may also be foraged wild. The tree is fairly rare, and grows in hot, humid conditions where it receives a great deal of moisture. Only harvesting a small amount of root is recommended, to avoid killing the tree. Prefers a temperate climate, not too hot or dry.

L

Lettuce: Edible leaves that grow in a bunch around a central core. Varieties of leaf type and color make for interesting salads. Usually eaten raw, often dressed with oil, vinegar, and herbs.

M

Manroot: All parts of this rapidly growing, often invasive plant are exceedingly bitter. Touch your tongue to a cut root and your jaw will lock. This strong a chemical defense indicates potential medicinal use. Related to the cucumber family, which includes, melons and gourds, the manroot is a veritable pharmacoepia. Edible stalks, used in teas and potions, can heal limb scars.

Marillis: The dark red, small berries of the marillis plant have properties similar to acantha, cothinir, and cuctucae. Marillis grows most commonly in colder hills and mountains.

Mustard: The easily distinguished flowers have four petals arranged diagonally ("cruciform") and alternating with the four sepals. Used to make woad, an important dye source. Most important commercially are the black mustard and white mustard. These are yellow-flowered annuals resemble each other and are used more or less similarly. They are cultivated for the seeds, which are ground and used as a condiment, usually mixed to a paste with vinegar or oil, sometimes with spices or with an admixture of starch to reduce the pungency. Mustards are also grown as salad plants and for greens. The white mustard is used in some places as forage for sheep and as green manure. Black mustard seeds are more pungent than the white and yield a yellowish, biting oil that has also been useful in medicine.

N

Nettle: Nettle plants grow two to three feet tall, bearing dark green leaves with serrated margins, and small flowers covered with tiny hairs on the leaves and stems. When brushed, Nettles can inject an irritant into any skin that comes into contact with the plant. The stinging reaction is caused by the plant hairs injecting a compound containing formic acid, histamine, and other irritants. This stinging activity is lost when the plant is dried or cooked, and the tender tops of young first-growth nettles are especially delicious and nutritious.

P

Pea: The erect shrub or short-lived perennial legume is often grown as an annual crop, 1 to 4 meters high. The leaves have three leaflets. Leaflets are elliptic to lanceolate, green and pubescent above and silvery greyish-green with longer hairs below, 2.5-10 cm long and up to 3.5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow with red/reddish brown lines or a red outside, borne in terminal racemes, and measure 1.2-1.7 cm in diameter. Pods are straight to sickle shaped, 5-10 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm wide, glabrous and glandular (Bogdan) 

Pennyroyal: This strongly aromatic herb is a low-growing plant with a slender erect much-branched, somewhat hairy and square stem. The leaves are small, thin, and rather narrow. In summer, close flower clusters appear, consisting of a few pale-bluish flowers. The entire herb has a strong mintlike odor and pungent taste. Their edible stems are used in oils and rubs.

Peppermint: Green peppermint hearts can be obtained freely in Zephyr Hall. 

R

Rose-Marrow: A member of the leguminous family. Staggered blackish-green leaves climb tall stalks, nearly hiding scarlet-edged white blossoms that eventually give way to small, rounded seed pods.

Rosemary: A decent spice, as well as a fragrant garden plant, with needle-like glossy, dark green leaves and showy petite blue flowers.

S

Sage (wild): The sage plant is a member of the herb family, and gowns in small rounded clumps of aromatic grayish-green, opposite leaves. Great when used in stews and seasonings meats, mostly fowl. When left to its own, wild sage will grow woody and tall, but its distinctive aroma is still present.

Seaweed (various): Often edible, sometimes used to make rope or clothing.

Sovyn: Sovyn clove is routinely sold for its medicinal properties, and may also be foraged wild. The cloves of which people speak are actually the small, dried flowers of the sovyn bush; without time to dry in the sun, their healing powers are lost.

Spearmint: May be foraged in several places in the vicinity of Wehnimer's Landing.

Strawberry: A low-growing plant with white flowers and an aggregate fruit that consists of a red fleshy edible receptacle and numerous seedlike fruitlets.

Strawberry (wild): Bears smaller fruit than its cultivated cousin, but much more flavorful. Some diligent foraging might yield this sweet treasure.

Sweetfern: An aromatic deciduous shrub having narrow, deeply lobed, fernlike leaves and minute flowers grouped in catkinlike heads.

T

Talneo: A member of the leguminous family. Long, tapered yellow-green leaves emerge from a vine-like stalk, the tendrils of which can be trained to climb. Draping cascades of periwinkle blue flowers eventually turn to see, producing narrow yellow pods.

Tarweed: A strong-smelling, resinous plant with yellow, rayed flower heads.

Teaberry (bright red): Also known as wintergreen. A creeping shrub bearing white bell-shaped flowers followed by spicy red berrylike fruit and shiny aromatic leaves that yield a fragrant oil. Try to forage for the tasty berries.

Thyme: One of several aromatic herbs, the low shrubs have small, white to lilac flowers grouped in headlike clusters.

Tkaro: Characteristic in nature due to its brilliant golden foliage, making it easy to stand out in a field or along a path, the root itself is a dark burgundy color, similar to a beet, but much tastier. Can be foraged in the wild.

Tomato: A widely cultivated plant having edible, fleshy, and usually red fruit. Comes in several varieties and sizes from cherry to larger than a giantkin's hand. Rare versions produce yellow, orange, green, blackish, and striped fruits.

Torban: Torban leaf is routinely sold for its medicinal properties, and may also be foraged wild. Growing in mild climates, the tree is not difficult to find, but care must be exercised in selecting the leaves in the proper stage of growth, or they will be useless, save for tea-making.

Turnip: A widely cultivated plant of the mustard family, having a large fleshy edible yellow or white root.

V

Valerian: A plant widely cultivated for its small, fragrant, white to pink or lavender flowers and for use in medicine.

W

Water Chestnut: A floating aquatic plant bearing four-pronged nutlike fruit and grown as a pond or aquarium ornamental. The fruit, often called a corm or tuber, can be used in cooking. Foraged often in the wild.

Wingstem: A member of the legume family. Pairs of pale green wing-shaped leaves offset small lavender flowers with yellow centers.

Wintergreen: Also known as teaberry. A creeping shrub bearing white bell-shaped flowers followed by spicy red berrylike fruit and shiny aromatic leaves that yield a fragrant oil.

Wormwood: Any of several aromatic plants yielding a bitter extract used in making absinthe and in flavoring certain wines.

Woth Flower: An exceedingly beautiful flower, that, when in full bloom, has a blue throat surrounded by ruffled violet petals. Woth flower is routinely sold for its medicinal properties, and may also be foraged wild. Woth flower grows best in hot, humid, dark climates, and it is believed to be native to rain forests.

Wyrmwood: A small, reddish-brown barked tree with gnarled branches. Insects love the sweet sap and often bore tiny holes along the trunk. Yellow leaves appear at spring and die off at first frost, after producing brackish green flowers.

Y

Yabathilium: The fruit of the tree is small, greenish, and unfortunately, extremely bitter. Yabathilium tree grows on beaches and saltwater coastlines, and may be foraged in the wild.