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Feverpod (or firebell), sunweed and sweet reed are all found in marshy areas and have a variety of uses. Yarrow blossoms white as snow. The triangle flower (article forthcoming) is a three-petaled early spring ephemeral with antimicrobial properties that can cause miscarriage. Elderberry, horehound, and lungwort are Earth herbs also found in the North, and sultry is the Northern name for a plant very similar to monskhood that is deadly poisonous. These alpine flowers have been noted: Akovu's Crown flower A wide selection of grasses and some hardy grains fill clearings and grow above the treeline in the foothills of some of the mountains. They thrive in areas too rocky for brush and trees, and feed many herbivores. Among the grains are cold-hardy barley and rye. These are not actively cultivated by the Northerners, so they tend to get choked out by more aggressive plants over time. Top onions provide tasty flavor for many Northern dishes, as do many cold-resistant herbs such as mint and chamomile. Chickweed and dandelions may sprout in loose soil. A low evergreen-like plant with pale yellow flowers (similar to Labrador tea) likes shady forest floors and adds a spicy kick of flavor. Nettles are an early source of green that are delicious when cooked, but protected by mildly stinging leaves. A variety of mushrooms are also found, most commonly in moist forest areas, including suntop (an edible but mealy yellow-orange-capped mushroom often found on old stumps), dancer's skirt (a frilly orange-ish mushroom that grows in stacks, tasty and edible), feshern: shelf mushrooms (dense white and gray 'upside-down' mushrooms that grow on birch trees and are useful to burn to keep insects away) and greenkey (not pictured, a tiny rare green mushroom that will cause cramps and is used by healers as an ingredient in some poultices). No local mushrooms are deadly to humans, though many are unpalatable (and greenkey is distinctly uncomfortable!). ![]() ![]() Moss is found in dim, dark corners, but don't rely on the old proverb about finding moss on the north side of a tree looking for shade - during the Northern summer, the sun will circle the horizon, rising and setting in the north if it sets at all, and swinging high into the sky to the south. Latusha picks handfuls of usenaard, Tingle-moss is a moss mentioned in Wild Snowy Chase, Part 6 (by Deirdre Murphy) as a pain-reliever used when giving snow-unicorns new nose-rings. Common lichen grows directly on rocks and can survive brutal alpine cold. They are a famine food for both humans and snow-unicorns, but are more commonly used to make dyes. A rare, frilly white variety edged in blue is a mild psychotropic. Healers use it in small doses to calm nervous patients. For larger, more complex lichens and mosses, the Northerners also have access to Lichenwold. Notable absences These plants are either not found at all in the North, or are extremely rare and will be found only in very sheltered areas: Pines, maples, oaks and other hardwoods, ferns and devil's club, nectarine, peaches, plums, grapes, wheat, and corn. This article contains extra material for our contributors only!
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