Difference between revisions of "Herbs with Mechanics"

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Cultivation of comfyr trees is entirely unnecessary, as comfyrs are real forest thugs. One comfyr tree in a forest of a thousand oak will be a thousand comfyr and one oak within sixty years.
 
Cultivation of comfyr trees is entirely unnecessary, as comfyrs are real forest thugs. One comfyr tree in a forest of a thousand oak will be a thousand comfyr and one oak within sixty years.
 
  
 
==Damiona==
 
==Damiona==
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Herbalists employ damiona for many purposes, most commonly as a mild sedative tea or sleep-promoting incense, but also to relieve pain and inflammation. All parts of the plant have similar effects, but the leaves are the most potent, especially leaves of younger plants and/or leaves that have been quickly dried immediately after harvesting. One of damiona's advantages is that an infusion reaches peak efficacy very quickly, so a damiona tea can be administered immediately upon brewing.
 
Herbalists employ damiona for many purposes, most commonly as a mild sedative tea or sleep-promoting incense, but also to relieve pain and inflammation. All parts of the plant have similar effects, but the leaves are the most potent, especially leaves of younger plants and/or leaves that have been quickly dried immediately after harvesting. One of damiona's advantages is that an infusion reaches peak efficacy very quickly, so a damiona tea can be administered immediately upon brewing.
  
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==Dongqua==
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Dongqua is a perennial herb with large somewhat triangular leaves with thick, fleshy stems and roots. The flowers are small, whitish green to pinkish green, always with six petals, and grouped in large compound leafy inflorescences. The fruits are tetrahedral achenes with winged edges, resembling a quartet of miniature maple seeds flying in formation. While the leaves are toxic, the stalks are used in cooking and winemaking for their tart flavor deriving from high levels of lamic acid; the House of Resplendent Vintage is the principal non-medicinal consumer of dongqua.
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Cultivated dongqua is plagued by a number of insect larva, including those of the yellow nutmeg moth and ermine cabbage moth. Fortunately it is easily propagated by cutting up the crowns of larger dongqua plants.
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Medicinally dongqua is prepared using the roots, stems, and stalks together. All parts of the plant contain small amounts of the olica poison, and dongqua also produces traces of other poisonous compounds, including anthracin and Three-Grave Cutri. None of the toxins are present in dangerous amounts, and in fact are responsible for most of its medicinal properties -- as even the neophyte herbalist knows, the most potent ingredients are often also the most dangerous.
  
 
==Turmeric==
 
==Turmeric==

Revision as of 23:39, 4 May 2011

Contents

Caledan

Caledan is a bunch-forming tuberous herb with long, flat, fibrous leaves, small yellow star-shaped flowers at ground level, and an elongated root stock bearing several fleshy roots. Its most distinctive quality is the unusual arrangement of its leaves, in that they strongly resemble a pleated skirt, and will wave slowly in even quite gentle breezes.

Its leaf fibers are used to make nets, hammocks, and the like, and the fruit is edible. Its seeds are black with deep wavy grooves.

It grows best in light shade, with consistently damp soil; it is tolerant of other light conditions, but not of arid environments. It can thrive indoors if tended appropriately. It is most readily propagated by dividing its root stock and replanting. Given the flowers' proximity to the ground, it has been speculated that its principal pollinator is a small rodent-like marsupial, but there is no hard evidence of this.

Comfyr

Comfyr (aka turkey-tree), is a deciduous tree native to the eastern and northeastern reaches of the empire. It has leathery, feathery leaves, golden, clumped flowers, plentiful small black fruit, twisting branches, and thick, corky bark. It is resistant to drought and insects, and it can thrive in a variety of soils.

The bark has been used to produce a yellow dye and is also of significant use to the herbalist. Medicinally, comfyr bark and the oil of the comfyr fruit are both of value.

Cultivation of comfyr trees is entirely unnecessary, as comfyrs are real forest thugs. One comfyr tree in a forest of a thousand oak will be a thousand comfyr and one oak within sixty years.

Damiona

Damiona (also known as Blue damiona or woodwort) is a hardy perennial herb. The stem is upright and no more than half a zhàng tall. Damiona loves wet areas and grows well in fens and along lake shores. The medium-sized blue flowers appear in late summer. The flowers do not grow from the top of the main stem, but are produced along the length of side branches that grow from the nodes of the main stem. The flowers are grouped in pairs and orient themselves to one side of the branches, giving rise to several popular children's tales about how the damiona lost half its flowers.

Herbalists employ damiona for many purposes, most commonly as a mild sedative tea or sleep-promoting incense, but also to relieve pain and inflammation. All parts of the plant have similar effects, but the leaves are the most potent, especially leaves of younger plants and/or leaves that have been quickly dried immediately after harvesting. One of damiona's advantages is that an infusion reaches peak efficacy very quickly, so a damiona tea can be administered immediately upon brewing.

Dongqua

Dongqua is a perennial herb with large somewhat triangular leaves with thick, fleshy stems and roots. The flowers are small, whitish green to pinkish green, always with six petals, and grouped in large compound leafy inflorescences. The fruits are tetrahedral achenes with winged edges, resembling a quartet of miniature maple seeds flying in formation. While the leaves are toxic, the stalks are used in cooking and winemaking for their tart flavor deriving from high levels of lamic acid; the House of Resplendent Vintage is the principal non-medicinal consumer of dongqua.

Cultivated dongqua is plagued by a number of insect larva, including those of the yellow nutmeg moth and ermine cabbage moth. Fortunately it is easily propagated by cutting up the crowns of larger dongqua plants.

Medicinally dongqua is prepared using the roots, stems, and stalks together. All parts of the plant contain small amounts of the olica poison, and dongqua also produces traces of other poisonous compounds, including anthracin and Three-Grave Cutri. None of the toxins are present in dangerous amounts, and in fact are responsible for most of its medicinal properties -- as even the neophyte herbalist knows, the most potent ingredients are often also the most dangerous.

Turmeric

Turmeric is a perennial herb with creeping rootstalks. It is indigenous to the Strand and needs hot climate and substantial rain to flourish. It is collected yearly for its creeping rootstalks, most of which are used, while the saved rootstocks are replanted for the next year.

The rootstocks are stewed for many hours and then desiccated in herbalist furnaces, then pulverized into a rich golden powder with broad culinary and dyeing use, although turmeric makes an inadequate cloth dyestuff as it gradually evanesces when exposed to sunlight. As a food coloring agent, however, it is ideal. It has a distinct earthy, slightly acrid, slightly piquant flavor.

The city of Twelve Culverts is the world's most prominent source and most significant market for turmeric. As a result Twelve Culverts is also called "Xanthous City" or "Suffusion of Yellow".