#cherry tree fungus

[blackknotbegone]

Black swellings or knots, silver leaves, light powdery patches, and depressed cankers are some of the major symptoms of black knot disease in cherry trees. Get superior cherry tree fungus treatment from Black Knot Be Gone with unique organic products. Apply to promote healing of the whole tree. Order your product now.

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[angelnumber27]

🥑🌱🥒🌿🦚🪬🫐🧊🫧🌬️

[brainnowork404]

What secrets do you hold, little Boletus?

[headspace-hotel]

There, in the sunlit forest on a high ridgeline, was a tree I had never seen before.

I spend a lot of time looking at trees. I know my beech, sourwood, tulip poplar, sassafras and shagbark hickory. Appalachian forests have such a diverse tree community that for those who grew up in or around the ancient mountains, forests in other places feel curiously simple and flat.

Oaks: red, white, black, bur, scarlet, post, overcup, pin, chestnut, willow, chinkapin, and likely a few others I forgot. Shellbark, shagbark and pignut hickories. Sweetgum, serviceberry, hackberry, sycamore, holly, black walnut, white walnut, persimmon, Eastern redcedar, sugar maple, red maple, silver maple, striped maple, boxelder maple, black locust, stewartia, silverbell, Kentucky yellowwood, blackgum, black cherry, cucumber magnolia, umbrella magnolia, big-leaf magnolia, white pine, scrub pine, Eastern hemlock, redbud, flowering dogwood, yellow buckeye, white ash, witch hazel, pawpaw, linden, hornbeam, and I could continue, but y'all would never get free!

And yet, this tree is different.

We gather around the tree as though surrounding the feet of a prophet. Among the couple dozen of us, only a few are much younger than forty. Even one of the younger men, who smiles approvingly and compliments my sharp eye when I identify herbs along the trail, has gray streaking his beard. One older gentleman scales the steep ridge slowly, relying on a cane for support.

The older folks talk to us young folks with enthusiasm. They brighten when we can call plants and trees by name and list their virtues and importance. "You're right! That's Smilax." "Good eye!" "Do you know what this is?—Yes, Eupatorium, that's a pollinator's paradise." "Are you planning to study botany?"

The tree we have come to see is not like the tall and pillar-like oaks that surround us. It is still young, barely the diameter of a fence post. Its bark is gray and forms broad stripes like rivulets of water down smooth rock. Its smooth leaves are long, with thin pointed teeth along their edges. Some of the group carefully examine the bark down to the ground, but the tree is healthy and flourishing, for now.

This tree is among the last of its kind.

The wood of the American Chestnut was once used to craft both cradles and coffins, and thus it was known as the "cradle-to-grave tree." The tree that would hold you in entering this world and in leaving it would also sustain your body throughout your life: each tree produced a hundred pounds of edible nuts every winter, feeding humans and all the other creatures of the mountains. In the Appalachian Mountains, massive chestnut trees formed a third of the overstory of the forest, sometimes growing larger than six feet in diameter.

They are a keystone species, and this is my first time seeing one alive in the wild.

It's a sad story. But I have to tell you so you will understand.

At the turn of the 20th century, the chestnut trees of Appalachia were fundamental to life in this ecosystem, but something sinister had taken hold, accidentally imported from Asia. Cryphonectria parasitica is a pathogenic fungus that infects chestnut trees. It co-evolved with the Chinese chestnut, and therefore the Chinese chestnut is not bothered much by the fungus.

The American chestnut, unlike its Chinese sister, had no resistance whatsoever.

They showed us slides with photos of trees infected with the chestnut blight earlier. It looks like sickly orange insulation foam oozing through the bark of the trees. It looks like that orange powder that comes in boxes of Kraft mac and cheese. It looks wrong. It means death.

The chestnut plague was one of the worst ecological disasters ever to occur in this place—which is saying something. And almost no one is alive who remembers it. By the end of the 1940's, by the time my grandparents were born, approximately three to four billion American chestnut trees were dead.

The Queen of the Forest was functionally extinct. With her, at least seven moth species dependent on her as a host plant were lost forever, and no one knows how much else. She is a keystone species, and when the keystone that holds a structure in place is removed, everything falls.

Appalachia is still falling.

Now, in some places, mostly-dead trees tried to put up new sprouts. It was only a matter of time for those lingering sprouts of life.

But life, however weak, means hope.

I learned that once in a rare while, one of the surviving sprouts got lucky enough to successfully flower and produce a chestnut. And from that seed, a new tree could be grown. People searched for the still-living sprouts and gathered what few chestnuts could be produced, and began growing and breeding the trees.

Some people tried hybridizing American and Chinese chestnuts and then crossing the hybrids to produce purer American strains that might have some resistance to the disease. They did this for decades.

And yet, it wasn't enough. The hybrid trees were stronger, but not strong enough.

Extinction is inevitable. It's natural. There have been at least five mass extinctions in Earth's history, and the sixth is coming fast. Many people accepted that the American chestnut was gone forever. There had been an intensive breeding program, summoning all the natural forces of evolution to produce a tree that could survive the plague, and it wasn't enough.

This has happened to more species than can possibly be counted or mourned. And every species is forced to accept this reality.

Except one.

We are a difficult motherfucker of a species, aren't we? If every letter of the genome's book of life spelled doom for the Queen of the Forest, then we would write a new ending ourselves. Research teams worked to extract a gene from wheat and implant it in the American chestnut, in hopes of creating an American chestnut tree that could survive.

This project led to the Darling 58, the world's first genetically modified organism to be created for the purpose of release into the wild.

The Darling 58 chestnut is not immune, the presenters warned us. It does become infected with the blight. And some trees die. But some live.

And life means hope.

In isolated areas, some surviving American Chestnut trees have been discovered, most of them still very young. The researchers hope it is possible that some of these trees may have been spared not because of pure luck, but because they carry something in their genes that slows the blight in doing its deadly work, and that possibly this small bit of innate resistance can be shaped and combined with other efforts to create a tree that can live to grow old.

This long, desperate, multi-decade quest is what has brought us here. The tree before me is one such tree: a rare survivor. In this clearing, a number of other baby chestnut trees have been planted by human hands. They are hybrids of the Darling 58 and the best of the best Chinese/American hybrids. The little trees are as prepared for the blight as we can possibly make them at this time. It is still very possible that I will watch them die. Almost certainly, I will watch this tree die, the one that shades us with her young, stately limbs.

Some of the people standing around me are in their 70's or 80's, and yet, they have no memory of a world where the Queen of the Forest was at her full majesty. The oldest remember the haunting shapes of the colossal dead trees looming as if in silent judgment.

I am shaken by this realization. They will not live to see the baby trees grow old. The people who began the effort to save the American chestnut devoted decades of their lives to these little trees, knowing all the while they likely never would see them grow tall. Knowing they would not see the work finished. Knowing they wouldn't be able to be there to finish it. Knowing they wouldn't be certain if it could be finished.

When the work began, the technology to complete it did not exist. In the first decades after the great old trees were dead, genetic engineering was a fantasy.

But those that came before me had to imagine that there was some hope of a future. Hope set the foundation. Now that little spark of hope is a fragile flame, and the torch is being passed to the next generation.

When a keystone is removed, everything suffers. What happens when a keystone is put back into place? The caretakers of the American chestnut hope that when the Queen is restored, all of Appalachia will become more resilient and able to adapt to climate change.

Not only that, but this experiment in changing the course of evolution is teaching us lessons and skills that may be able to help us save other species.

It's just one tree—but it's never just one tree. It's a bear successfully raising cubs, chestnut bread being served at a Cherokee festival, carbon being removed from the atmosphere and returned to the Earth, a wealth of nectar being produced for pollinators, scientific insights into how to save a species from a deadly pathogen, a baby cradle being shaped in the skilled hands of an Appalachian crafter. It's everything.

Despair is individual; hope is an ecosystem. Despair is a wall that shuts out everything; hope is seeing through a crack in that wall and catching a glimpse of a single tree, and devoting your life to chiseling through the wall towards that tree, even if you know you will never reach it yourself.

An old man points to a shaft of light through the darkness we are both in, toward a crack in the wall. "Do you see it too?" he says. I look, and on the other side I see a young forest full of sunlight, with limber, pole-size chestnut trees growing toward the canopy among the old oaks and hickories. The chestnut trees are in bloom with fuzzy spikes of creamy white, and bumblebees heavy with pollen move among them. I tell the man what I see, and he smiles.

"When I was your age, that crack was so narrow, all I could see was a single little sapling on the forest floor," he says. "I've been chipping away at it all my life. Maybe your generation will be the one to finally reach the other side."

Hope is a great work that takes a lifetime. It is the hardest thing we are asked to do, and the most essential.

I am trying to show you a glimpse of the other side. Do you see it too?

[plantanarchy]

drove past my parents old house and for one, there's not a scrap left of my mom's garden. her hugel mounds flattened and her established asparagus patch gone. but worse, the new owners cut down the forest pansy redbud I watered lovingly daily through a 2020 heat wave and the mature serviceberry and the iteas by the front stoop and most of the rest of the front bed shrubs. they kept the fungus-ridden flowering cherry, of course.

it makes me feel a little ill. god I have to grow old and die in this house because if my little junk baby toby tree doesn't get to grow to be 50 foot tall and brilliant then what is the point what is the point what is the point

[gfloutdoors]

White Fungus on Cherry Tree Bark: Common Causes and Solutions

White Fungus on Cherry Tree Bark: Common Causes and Solutions

Although, for the most part, the many cultivars of the cherry tree are relatively resilient and resistant to disease, they do have their challenges like any other trees, especially when it comes to fungus. If you’ve noticed white fungus on your cherry tree bark, your tree likely has a fungal infection.  Along with root rot, which can happen when the surrounding soil of a tree doesn’t drain well,…

[tundraechos]

[Image Description: Art showing select things added to Minecraft each year from 2009 to 2024. Above all the art is the text "Minecraft 15th Anniversary" in the style of the official update titles. The years are as follows: 2009: Diamonds, Steve, creepers, oak trees, and grass blocks. 2010: Crafting tables, redstone dust, redstone torches, fishing, Nether portals, and jack-o'-lanterns. 2011: Birch and spruce trees, wolves, beds, endermen, enchanting tables, and villagers. 2012: Cats, jungle trees, cocoa beans, iron golems, ender chests, emeralds, and beacons. 2013: Hoppers, horses, name tags, dark oak and acacia trees, alliums, poppies, sunflowers. 2014: Rabbits, banners, Alex, guardians, and armor stands. 2015 is just text that says "(No significant updates were released this year)". 2016: Elytra, shields, polar bears, llamas, shulker boxes. 2017: Glazed terracotta, recipe book, different colored beds, parrots, and concrete. 2018: Phantoms, tridents, turtle eggs, turtles, coral, and fish mobs. 2019: Foxes, sweet berries, new cat variants, lanterns, pillagers, crossbows, and bees. 2020: Respawn anchors, piglins, crimson and warped fungus, netherite, and lodestones. 2021: Copper, deepslate, moss, axolotls, glow squid, amethyst, and goats. 2022: Wardens, echo shards, goat horns, frogs, allays, and mangrove trees. 2023: Cherry trees, new default player skins, decorated pots, armor trims, sniffers, torchflowers, and pitcher plants. 2024: Armadillos, New wolf variants, wolf armor, maces, wind charges, breezes, and crafters. End Image Description.]

This is a spiritual successor to my 10th anniversary art, which I have always been very proud of. It's amazing to see how far we've come!

[mycoblogg]

FOTD #120 : black truffle! (tuber melanosporum)

the black truffle (also périgord truffle or french black truffle) is one of the most expensive edible fungi in the world. it grows at a depth of 5-50cm as ectomycorrhizae, preferably in loose soil, close to the roots of the plants they associate with. these include holm oaks, french oaks, hazel, cherry & other deciduous trees. they are found in various regions, e.g. france, spain, italy & croatia :-)

the big question : can i bite it?? hell yeah !! it's not one of the most expensive edible fungi for nothin'.

t. melanosporum description :

"the round, dark brown fruiting bodies (ascocarps) have a black-brown skin with small pyramidal cusps. they have a strong, aromatic smell & normally reach a size of up to 10 cm (3.9 in). some may be significantly larger. their flesh is initially white, then dark. it is permeated by white veins, which turn brown with age."

[images : source & source] [fungus of the day : source]

[exhausted-archivist]

ALT

Flora of Thedas Master List

Master list of all the flora in Thedas, mentioned or seen.

Additional notes on certain items will be listed at the bottom, for items marked with asterisks, see the key below for a brief explanation and the Game assets and Additional Notes and Trivia section at the bottom. Sources are listed at the very end and this time linked.

For other lists here are posts for: Real Plants in Thedas

Key: * - Name comes from the asset file name ** - Name not provided but identified based on the textures used on the asset. *** - See Additional Notes and Trivia.

General Flora: Flowers and Foliage

Acacia*: Black Wood*

Andraste's Grace

Ardent Blossom

Ash

Aspen

Banyan Tree*

Barbwood

Beech Tree

Belladonna

Birch: White Birch*

Blackthorn

Bluebell

Borage

Boswellia

Boxwood*

Buttercup

Cactus: Pear Cactus*

Cattail*

Cedar: Red Cedar

Chicory

Clover: Forest Clover*

Coleus**

Cosmos

Cotton

Crape Myrtle

Cypress: Italian Cypress*, Topiary Cypress*

Daffodil

Daisy: Marguerite

Dandelion

Dog-rose

Dogwood*

Elephant Ear*

Elm

Fade Berry*

Felicidus Aria

Fern: Red Fern*, Sword Fern*

Fir

Flax

Foxleaf*

Frangipani

Gorse

Harlot's Blush

Hawthorn

Hay

Hemp

Hensbane

Hero Tree*

Hollyhock

Honeysuckle

Iris

Ironbark

Ironwood***

Itchweed

Ivy

Jasmin

Larch

Lichen: Glowing Lichen

Lilac

Lily: Calla Lily**, Water Lily

Lotus

Maple

Marigold

Moss: Oakmoss, Redmoss, Tree-Moss

Nightshade

Northern Prickleweed

Oak: Serault Oak

Orchid

Palm Tree: Curly Palm*, Fan Palm*

Pansy

Peony

Pine: Chir Pine*, Stone Pine

Ponga Tree*

Poppy

Prickle-burrs

Redwood*

Rose: Climbing Rose

Rowan

Sandalwood

Seaweed

Snapdragon

Spruce

Sugar Cane

Sundew

Sunflower

Sylvanwood

Tahanis

Thistle

Trex*

Trullium

Vasanthum

Violet

Walnut: Black Walnut

Waterweed*

Wilds Flower

Willow

Witchhazel*

Wysteria

Yew

Fruits

Apple: Applewood Apple, Green Apple, Golden Apple, Red Apple

Apricot

Banana

Berries: Blackberry, Blueberry, Bramble Berry, Cranberry, Elderberry, Raspberry, Strawberry

Cherry

Citron

Coco, Chocolate

Coconut

Coffee

Currants: Black Currant

Fig

Grape

Lemon

Lime

Melon

Nuts: Almonds, Chestnut, Hognut, Peanuts

Olives

Orange: Sweet Orange

Palm Fruit: Date

Passion Fruit

Peach

Pear: Bradford Pear*

Plum

Pomegranate

Grains

Barley

Oats

Rice

Ryott

Wheat

Vegetables

Artichoke

Beans: Bush Bean, Green Bean, Pale Bean, White Bean

Beets

Bell Peppers: Red Bell Peppers

Cabbage

Capers

Carrot

Celery

Chive

Corn

Cucumber

Daikon Radish*

Eggplant

Fennel

Onion: Red Onion, Sweet Onion, White Onion

Pea

Peppers: Antivan Pepper, Green Pepper, Hot Pepper, Hot Red Pepper, Sweet Pepper

Potato

Radish

Spinach

Squash: Baby Pumpkin, Marrow Squash, Pumpkin, String Squash

Tomato

Turnip

Fungus of Thedas

Deep Mushrooms

Bleeding Russula

Blightcap

Blighted Morel

Brimstone Mushroom

Deep Mushroom

Destroying Spirit

Ghoul's Mushroom

Unnamed Mushroom Ortan Thaig

Surface Mushrooms

Beetle Spore

Drakevein

Field Mushroom

Gasbloom*

Sponge Root***

Toadstool

Truffle

Morel***

Unnamed Glowing Mushroom***

Unnamed Mushroom***

Spices

Allspice

Antivan Cord-Seed

Cardamom

Cinnamon

Clove

Cumin, Cumin Seed

Dill, Dill Seed

Juniper

Licorice

Mace

Mustard

Nutmeg

Pepper: Black Pepper

Peppercorn: Black Peppercorn

Saffron

Vanilla

ALT

Herbs of Thedas

Herbs count as anything that Dragon Age has classified as an herb (whether technically correct or not), plants that are used as herbs in real life. These do not include mushrooms, fungi, or deep mushrooms simply for ease of organization.

Amrita Vein

Andraste's Mantle

Arbor Blessing

Basil

Bay

Catsbane

Crystal Grace

Deathroot: Arcanist Deathroot, Lunatic's Deathroot

Dragonthorn

Elfroot/Canavaris: Bitter Elfroot, Gossamer Elfroot, Royal Elfroot

Embrium: Dark Embrium, Salubrious Embrium

Felandaris

Foxite

Garlic

Ghoul's Beard

Ginger

Heatherum

Lavender

Lotus: Black Lotus, Blood Lotus, Dawn Lotus

Madcap

Mint: Anderfel's Mint, Foxmint, Peppermint

Mintroot - Not a true mint based on its description and the fact that it grows on trees.

Oregano

Parsley

Prophet's Laurel

Rashvine

Rashvine Nettle

Redleaf

Rosemary

Sage

Spindleweed: Verdant Spindleweed

Stripweed

Thyme

Vandal Aria

Winterberry***

Witherstalk

Star Anise

Wormwood

Wormroot***

Game Assets Notes

These are plants shown in Dragon Age but aren't named in universe, just in their model files or through identification of the textures. Since most filler plant textures are just that of real world plants.

**NOTE:** When I mention they are not the known name of any plant, this comes with the caveat of being popular common names. Common names are highly variable and inconsistent. They depend on regional knowledge and association. Some travel farther than others. Common names are also not reliable identifiers.

Acacia: Black Wood ~ Note: Black Wood is a type of acacia. Both acacia and black wood are named assets.

Artichoke ~ Note: Identification comes from asset name, the artichoke flower is used as ornamentation of a box.

Banyan Tree

Boxwood ~ A type of shrub, identification comes from asset name.

Bradford Pear ~ Their fruits are edible, however their flowers are known to emit a smell akin to rotting meat. Identification comes from asset name.

Calla Lily ~ Note: Not named but identified by the texture used. It is seen in Val Royeaux planters.

Cattail ~ Note: Seen through out DAO and DAI, identification comes from asset name.

Coleus ~ Note: Not named but identified by the texture used. It is seen in Val Royeaux planters and in the Frostback Basin.

Crape Myrtle

Cypress: Italian Cypress, Topiary Cypress ~ Note: In terms of the Italian Cypress, in world it wouldl likely be called the "Antivan Cypress" given that Antiva is pulling from Italian culture, food, environments, and other inspirational elements. Cypress is a plant that is named in canon.

Daikon Radish ~ Note: Found on Dennet's farm, identification comes from asset name.

Dogwood

Elephant Ear ~ Note: Foliage found in the Frostback Basin, identification comes from asset name.

Fade Berry

Fern: Red Fern, Sword Fern ~ Note: The red fern isn't a real plant and therefore can be considered unique to Thedas. In contrast the sword fern is a real plant. Identification comes from the asset name for both of these ferns.

Forest Clover

Foxleaf ~ Note: This is another plant that is not real, no plant has this common name as far as I could find.

Gasbloom ~ Note: Seen in the Arbor Wilds, the Frostback Basin some elven ruins, and the elven ruins of multiplayer levels. Their identification comes from the asset name. There are two versions of the texture the "fixed" version is used in JoH dlc and thus explains the difference in appearance. This is not the name of a known mushroom.

Hero Tree

Palm: Curly Palm, Fan Palm ~ Note: Both palms are seen in the Frostback Basin, both are identified by their named assets.

Pear Cactus ~ Note: Found in the Frostback Basin, identification comes from the asset name.

Pine: Chir Pine

Ponga Tree ~ Note: Also known as the 'Tree Fern'. This is the tree you see in Val Royeaux garden as coming from Par Vollen, and throughout the Arbor Wilds.

Redwood ~ Note: Identified by the name of the file asset. Found in the Winter Palace, Exalted Plains, and on multiplayer maps.

Snapdragon

Trex

Waterweed ~ Note: In real life this is an entire genus not one particular plant. Though the six plants in this genus do share the common name of waterweed.

White Birch

Witchhazel

Additional Notes and Trivia

Ironwood - Unclear if this is an alternative name, the actual name of the plant, or both.

Morel - This mushroom is inferred due to the existence of Blighted Morel. However it is not explicitly specified there is a non-blighted morel.

Sponge Root - Though canonical as it is mentioned and shown in World of Thedas vol. 2 on pg. 138 with a collection of deep mushroom and surface mushroom illustrations. This mushroom was cut twice from Inquisition. It was cut from the base game as a craftable, it had a much different appearance from its final design, and then it was cut again from Trespasser. It does however still make an appearance in Inquisition as the inventory icon for Crystal Grace.

Unnamed Glowing Mushroom Is mentioned in multiplayer when there are two Lukas playing.

Unnamed Mushroom These brown mushrooms are seen in the Fallow Mire and the Frostback Basin. They are shown in two different sizes ranging from shorter than a dwarf to taller than one.

There is one unlisted mushroom, its assets is named "red mushroom" and thus is identified by textures. These is not a canon name but is included for completeness. Amanita Muscaria: More commonly know as fly agaric or fly amanita, the red top with white spots is an iconic in its imagery. You will find large swaths of these mushrooms in the Frostback Basin. Their assets is named "Red Mushroom".

Winterberry is a real plant. However, from what we see in DA2, it does not the same as the plant we have in the real world, just a shared common name.

Wormroot is another real plant name. However, due to the description in The Calling, it does not seem to be the same plant. In The Calling it is used to treat the venom of a giant spider. The real world plant is used to treat parasites in the gut and does not seem to hold any shared uses in folk lore, folk medicine, or western medicine practices.

Sources

Dragon Age Origins + DLCs Dragon Age 2 Dragon Age Last Court Dragon Age Inquisition + DLCs Dragon Age TTRPG Core Rulebook Dragon Age TTRPG Blood of Ferelden Dragon Age TTRPG: Creatures of Thedas: Wyvern

World of Thedas Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne Dragon Age: The Calling Dragon Age: The Masked Empire Dragon Age: Last Flight Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Short Story: Paying the Ferryman Short Story: Riddle in the Truth Short Story: The Wake

Origins Andraste's Grace Codex: The Bercillian Forest Codex: Falon'Din: Friend of the Dead, the Guide Codex: Feast Day Fish Codex: The History of Soldier's Peak: Chapter 3 Codex: Ironbark Codex: A Note from the Honnleath Village Council Codex: Sylaise: The Hearthkeeper Codex: Sylvan Codex: A Tattered Shopping List Item: Concentrator Agent Item: Deep Mushroom Item: Figurine Item: Madcap Bulb Item: Rare Antivan Brandy Item: Rashvine Nettle Item: Spirit Charm Item: Spirit Cord Item: Sugar Cake Item: Swift Salve Item: West Hill Brandy Item: Wilds Flower

DA 2 Ambrosia Bianca (Crossbow) Ironwood Clearing Codex: Deathroot Codex: Deep Mushroom Codex: Embrium Codex: Felandaris Codex: The Hedge Witch Codex: Spindleweed Item: Carved Ironwood Buttons Item: Harlot's Blush Quest: Hard to Stomach Quest: The Long Road Quest: Tranquility Weapon: The Celebrant Weapon: Ironwood Shield Weapon: Ironwood Warblade

Inquisition Codex: Amrita Vein Codex: Arbor Blessing Codex: Avvar Cuisine Codex: Black Lotus Codex: Blood Lotus Codex: Bottles of Thedas Codex: Crystal Grace Codex: Elfroot Codex: Ghoul's Beard Codex: The Girl in Red Crossing Codex: Hard in Hightown Chapter 7 Codex: Hard in Hightown Chapter 10 Codex: Mediations and Odes to Bees Codex: Notes on Palace Guests Codex: The Orlesian Civil War Codex: Prophet's Laurel Codex: Rashvine Codex: Rashvine Nettle Codex: Vandal Aria Codex: Vivienne's Alchemy Notes Codex: Waterlogged Diary Codex: Witherstalk Note: Betta's Traveling Journal Note: Carta Note on Security Note: Field Notes Note: The Gilded Horn's Drink List Note: Knight-Captain's Orders Note: Love Letter Note: A Note from Skyhold's Kitchens Note: A Note from Skyhold's Kitchens, Again War Table: The Dance with the Dowager: The Allemande Item: Ardent Blossom

Last Court The Abbess' Road The Anchoress Arrival of the Divine The Feast is Ending Fires Flames of Freedom Good Neighbors Heartwood Feast The Hounds The Lord of the Wood Comes a-Calling The Purveyor of Teas Road and River A Swift Stream Thieves! Unofficial Meeting

Want to support this blog? Check out my ko-fi!

[krscblw]

ghoul element perfume associations!

i've done a few scent association lists for individual ghouls, and i thought it would be fun to do one for elements instead! it's a little more general, which lets me include perfume that i really like but that don't fit any of the ghouls exactly. as always, i would love your feedback!!

Usual warning: This might look weird on mobile, but it should be good on desktop. Apologies, I'd fix it if I knew how.

Earth: Dense, earthy, bitter, green scents reminiscent of forests, gardens, and ruins halfway reclaimed by nature.

Notes: wood, vetiver, greenery, moss, soil, fruit, rose, stone, fungus

Rose Fantôme - LVNEA

“Rose Fantôme breathes not the fresh blooming rose but the one that has been cut, left and forgotten. Now one with its surroundings, it blends with the scents of dried grass and lichen, hay, and dirt.” 

porcelain roses, immortelle, dried hay, graveyard soil, cepes, oakmoss, oakwood

Duende - Fantôme 

“The smell of being lost in an enchanted forest.”

oakmoss, cedar, fir, resinous labdanum, benzoin, tree sap, wild violets, lilac

(i have this one, it's forest-y but also pretty light for a forest perfume. definitely a summery, magical forest smell)

Holy Oak - LVNEA

“Holy Oak alchemizes the aromas of deep, damp oakwood and the dry warmth of cedar to evoke the sound, sight, and smell of a well-worn cabin woodframe creaking against the weight of tempestuous rainfall as it begins to slow.”

galbanum, cedar leaf, petrichor, frankincense, cedarwood, oakwood, oakmoss

Mount Auburn - Little & Grim

“A dizzying array of all the flora that buds in Massachusetts. Fragrant, fruity blossoms and towering trees shading gentle, winding paths.”

fresh raspberry, melon, honeysuckle, blooming lilac, wisteria, spruce

Love Among the Ruins - Alkemia 

“An ancient ruin of fallen stonework covered with lichen and tangles of flowering vines slowly disintegrating/returning to nature.”

stone ruins, lichen, tangles of flowering vines

Rochester - Fantôme

rich earth, crisp fallen leaves, sweet tobacco, a hint of patchouli, garden tomato, newly ripened autumn gourds

Vert Sur Le Vert - Alkemia  

green grasses, new leaves, tomato seedlings, crushed sweet grasses

Air: Scents that range from cold, sharp, and sweet to thick, powdery, and dusty – reflecting the versatility of air as an element. 

Notes: florals, musk, fruit, cold air, dust, sugar, honey, ozone

Lilacs Along the Winding Drive - Alkemia 

fresh lilacs, a gentle breeze after a light spring rain, a dusty pebbled driveway, a slightly rusty porch swing, and a small handful of late blooming violets

Hummingbird - Zoologist 

“This diaphanous scent alights upon you in a pastel bouquet of honeysuckle, mimosa, lilac and peonies, with just the lightest dusting of natural sugars found in pear, cherry and honey. A finishing dollop of velvety whipped cream melds the tantalizing notes, completing this irresistible and opulent perfume.”

apple, cherry, citrus, lilac, muguet, plum, rose, violet leaf, honey, honeysuckle, mimosa, peony, tulip, ylang, amber, coumarin, cream, moss, musks, sandalwood, white woods

Frost Flowers - LVNEA 

“Icy and cold, delicate yet jagged, floral ice crystals slowly melt to reveal a heart of dark florals at the center of this musky and enveloping oil perfume.”

tuberose, jasmine, black currant, ambrette, cypress, elemi resin

Thundersnow - Fyrinnae 

“On rare occasions within a system cold enough to produce ground level snow, the conditions are favorable for the right lifting and instability required to also produce lightning.”

cold air, electricity, metallic ozone, gasoline

Veil of Spidersilk - Nui Cobalt Designs

“Slender strands of cotton flower hung with trembling dewdrops… Wear to bless any new beginning and brighten the path ahead.”

cotton flower, dew, pale pink musk, tiny black vanilla beans, Margaret Merril rose, lily of the valley, neroli, honeysuckle, non-indolic jasmine

Mama Gein - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab 

crushed baby’s breath dusted with baby powder

Foxfire - Alkemia 

white sugar ambers, jasmine aldehydes, night flowering nardo

Fire: Warm, heavy, lingering, spicy scents. Some fire ghouls smell like smoke and fire, but others smell like heat, metal, or spices. 

Notes: smoke, incense, spices, metal, patchouli, wood

Paimon - Fantôme 

“This is a warm, regal scent conjuring an endless sea of sand with the hint of an oasis of coconut and dark vanilla carried on a warm desert wind. Golden frankincense, black amber, and myrrh stir under the endless dunes of hot sand, grounding the bright, golden notes that shine under the unrelenting sun.”

hot sands, frankincense, myrrh, sun-bleached parchment, vanilla, black amber, coconut husk, gold

Eldritch - Pineward Perfume 

“Lair of ancient eldritch abominations, a resinous and dark perfume for the bold and unafraid.”

leather, myrrh, patchouli, fir, oolong tea, opoponax, smoke, pine needles, oakmoss

Stel - Treading Water Perfume 

motor oil, metal, desert air, frankincense, oud

Persian Tea Room - Alkemia 

spiced black tea, dry desert sand, spices, musk, soft leather

Firebird - Fantôme

“This is a rich, golden scent that emulates the golden apples and warm flame of the Firebird.”

smoldering embers, burning cloves, orange, golden saffron, endless forest, soot on feathers, soft flame, apple 

Dwarf - Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs  

iron filings, chips of stone, hops, soot-covered leather

Tyrannosaurus Rex - Zoologist  

“A sultry heat wafts across the land, lapped up greedily by the abundant flora that thrives in its midst… The Cretaceous period comes of age against a backdrop scorched by wildfire and lightning strikes.”

bergamot, black pepper, fir, laurel leaf, neroli, nutmeg, champaca, geranium, jasmine, osmanthus, rose, ylang ylang, resins, cade, cedar, civet, frankincense, leather, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla

Water: Water ghouls tend to have smooth, cold scents. Some are sweet, some are sour, some are salty, but all of them reflect different bodies of water.

Notes: ozone, vanilla, water, citrus, seaweed, salt, sand, ice, tropical fruit

Triton - Fantôme

murky sea water, ambergris, ancient forest mosses, crushed ivy, frankincense, resins, ozone, a hint of citrus

Voice of the Sea - Alkemia 

“An olfactory musing from the underside of a wooden dock.”

salty sea breezes, sun-bleached driftwood, crushed seashells, lemon peel, barnacles, sand, and sea-soaked timbers

Dragonfly - Zoologist 

“Giant lotus pads part to make way for buds that pierce the surface of the jade green pond. They raise their faces to the sun, their delicate fragrance floating around them. In the shadow of the flowers, tiny dragonfly nymphs also emerge from the shallows. They spread their fragile wings and shyly take flight, ready to explore a world beyond the water.”

grapefruit, basil, angelica seed, ginger, rice, aquatic florals, geranium, jasmin sambac, mimosa, orris absolute, rose, violet leaves, rainwater, moss, patchouli, tonka, vetiver, benzoin, cashmeran

Acadia - Alkemia

“An olfactory portrait of coastal Maine.”

atlantic ocean fog, balsam fir pine needles, seaweed, bay leaves, saltwater, charred driftwood

Gelatto - Pineward Perfume 

“Suntanned skin and sunny beaches.”

makrut lime, jasmine sambac, mandarin orange, gardenia, massoia bark, sandalwood, ambergris

Squid - Zoologist   

“The vast ocean swells and contracts, caught in the relentless tug of the moon. Beneath the surface, a school of squid emerges. Strange, elastic forms propel from the deep in a frantic search for sustenance. They are not alone. Their predators lunge, only to be foiled by blinding jets of murky ink.”

pink pepper, solar salicylate, incense, black ink accord, salty accord, opoponax, ambergris, benzoin, musk

Seahorse - Zoologist  

“Balmy sunlight trips across foamy turquoise waves, sending rippling haloes onto the coral below. On the lagoon floor, anemone and seaweed sway in unison, limbs pumping to the rhythm of the current. Hovering among the coral branches, a group of seahorses gazes shyly on.”

guatemala cardamom, fennel, ambrette absolute, clary sage, tuberose, neroli, algae absolute, vetiver, ambergris accord

Quintessence: Heavy, warm, creamy scents. Quintessence ghouls tend to smell comforting, and their scents reflect human creations much more often than other ghouls’.

Notes: amber, leather, chocolate, alcohol, linen, lavender, wood, milk, vanilla

Amber Witch - Alkemia

aged dark arabian amber, honey musk, creamy bourbon caramels, spiced rum

Moon Magic - Sorcellerie Apothecary 

“Smells like your favorite cozy witch.”

lavender sugar, tonka bean, chai spices, vanilla steamed milk, cashmeran, ambroxan, crystals charged by moonlight

Sailing to Byzantium - Alkemia

papyrus, leather, ink, cardamon, orris, tonka, wet tweed, precious incense woods

Novella - Alkemia

“A cozy afternoon curled up in a favorite chair…”

spiced lavender de provence, steaming earl grey tea, old paperback books 

The Old Gods Survive - PULP Fragrance 

cherry pipe tobacco, golden amber, aged leather, oakmoss, old cedar chests

Solovey - Fantôme 

black amber, crushed violets, black currants, dark espresso, labdanum, black agarwood, tobacco

(one of my favorites of all time. it smells like nighttime but magical, somehow. the amber, violets, and espresso are most noticeable and it's so good. if dark purple was a scent it would be this imo)

Fleurs Historiques et Cacao - Alkemia 

“A historical recipe from the 1700's court of Versailles created by a mistress to delight a king. A paradox of the decadent and the divine…”    

dark cacao, french lavender, piquant black cardamom pods, tea with lemon peel, grapefruit blossom, vanilla musk

thank you for reading, and i would love to hear your thoughts! (also, gentle reminder if you got this far that reblogs are very appreciated!)

[learnplants]

Today's plant isn't even a plant, but it still deserves a look at! Folks, welcome to Laetiporus Sulphureus, or commonly referred to as 'chicken-of-the-woods'! That's right, a fungus! It's a soft toy the touch, bracket fungus, meaning it grows in a plate shape off the side of trees, specifically oak and cherry trees!

Chicken of the woods is a bright yellow fungus that's thick and fleshy with bands of orange when young, that fade to cream when it's older! It has a soft and moist crumbly flesh and has a strong mushroom smell!

As with all fungus, it spreads through spores, which get released from tiny little holes called pores!

Chicken of the woods is a vital fungus in UK woodlands, as it supports some specialist beetles, such as the hairy fungus beetle, which can only eat bracketed fungus! It's also commonly eat by deer! It's also edible for humans, when it's cooked! However, it disagreed with some people, and can cause a bit of dizziness and an upset stomach! And make sure you are 100% certain that it is chicken of the woods before you try to eat it! Frankly, it's best to just not try, so you don't get sick or possibly worse!

A shorter one today I'm afraid, just isn't as much information about chicken of the woods! Still, I'm always happy to spread whatever information I can about the wonderful world of plants (and fungus!) for all of you to learn! Anywho, without further delay, here is Laetiporus Sulphureus!

[blackknotbegone]

Apply the black knot fungus spray any time the tree is absorbing nutrients up through the root system, from early spring to late fall. The best time is any time you see the black knot disease on the tree.

For more details, visit our website: https://www.blackknotbegone.com/

[aisling-saoirse]

Plant of the day: Black Cherry - Prunus serotina

Today I wanted to recognize a lovely early successional tree species, one of America's showiest "Cherry" species and a vigorous ecological powerhouse

Black cherry has quite the unusual range, commonly found All over the Eastern US but has multiple geographically distinctive subspecies throughout the West and Mexico. North from Minnesota to Nova Scotia south to mid Florida to east Texas, Additionally it can be found in Big Bend National Park, areas of Arizona and New Mexico. South of the border Black Cherry is found throughout the East, West, and South Sierra Madres mountains reaching as far south as Guatemala.

Black Cherry as I've encountered it grows mostly in old fields and disturbed grounds, but apparently in Mexico it occupies mountainous regions. The species is also able to live long enough to be part of some older forests as well. In terms of finding it, If you've ever driven down an Eastern-Midwest highway in May, you'll notice plenty with a stunning display of white flowers (see below). I saw them all the way out to Kansas on Route 70.

This cherry occupies weedy environments very well, usually ending up with twisted bent forms and has an incredibly high germination rate. This vigorous tree can dominate a seed bank for years (I've pulled probably thousands from my garden beds). In Europe-East Asia it is considered a problematic invasive...but here where it's native it can outcompete the worst competition.

Identifying black cherry is rather easy, it has a dark flakey semi-plated bark (below), while the stems are notably cherry like (horizontal fissures) at the stems and intact portions of bark. The heart wood is notably orangish in color and the leaves give off the cherry-like odor when crushed. Leaves are typically longish symmetrical semi-shiny, darkish green with one very visible vein and shallow serated edges. Flowers are white clusters reminiscent of horns present around late May to early June. The ripe fruit is blackish red and present around August, on a good year it's quite plentiful (and delicious).

Black cherry is a wild edible in a few forms. I personally like to snack on the sour ripe fruit and spit out the large seeds, in Mexico these fruits are referred to as cupelines! The most fruitful useage is probably making jelly from collected fruit (something I do not know how to do). Cough syrups were historically derived from the bark and are still present in popular tea flavors such as "throat coats" (awful name).

While marginally edible to us the black cherry is ecologically the most important native cherry species for wildlife. Not only is there plentiful fruit for birds and large mammals the tree is rated number three amoung supported lepidoptera species. Per Doug Tallamy and Kim Shropshire's research the Prunus genus supports [at least] 465 species of invertebrates.

In this vein a common species which inhabits these trees are eastern tent caterpillars (image from inaturalist). I bring them up only because people commonly confuse them for the spongy moth (formerly g*psy moth). But tent caterpillars live in groups and only really eat prunus species whereas spongy moths are devastating and solitary. Interestingly enough the leaves of black cherry contain enough cyanide to make these caterpillars toxic to most predators! Don't break up the tent, tent caterpillars won't kill your tree.

In terms of modern relationships with the tree, people mostly use it as a higher quality cabinetry wood. I believe this species is one of the more common cherry woods to recieve, it has a strong orange hue to its wood which lasts. People also refer this species as an aromatic wood...however having cut down multiple of these trees I hate the smell, fresh cuts are like a chemical cyanide scent...

Lastly I'll bring up causes for decline, lately I've seen a reduction in black cherry due to an introduced fungus called the black knot. This affects many cherry species and isn't always fatal but can kill a tree (hence why I cut down multiple). You can treat individuals if you spot them early by cutting infected branches and burning/burying them before they spore in spring.

Ultimately the Black Cherry is the less famous cousin to the showy Asian cherry cultivars, but still holds a punch of beauty and provides incredibly high ecological value compared to most other American trees. Happy hunting!

[ladybugoflove]

Nobody asked for my opinion, but here it is anyways: 'invasive' or 'aggressive' species are indictive of ecological disharmony

The occurrence of which IS natural, but always eventually balances out (unless artificially maintained)

Eventually, the plant/ animal/ fungi/ whatever will be predated on and population reduced in size, so it doesn't crowd out entire species or destroy entire ecosystems anymore. This can look like hogs eating large patches of fireweed, or black smut fungus infecting a cherry monocrop.

If left alone, garlic mustard takes approximately 10 years before it's population starts to die down (I'm not sure what leads to the degrowth), and I'm positive that with enough time, an animal or plant disease will move into or evolve to eat it in North America.

Every single species in every single ecosystem has been new or 'invasive' at some point in history. Why it's so important to manage them now is because civilizations have already caused ecological disharmony across the globe, and plenty of species are endangered. So instead of waiting for the destruction phase to pass, ecologists are attempting to artificially predate on these new species, and keep endangered and endemic species and ecosystems alive.

Because the food chain is being absolutely destroyed, and we rely on it for existence.

This is not to say that we should be cruel to invasive species- they are not doing anything wrong. They do not deserve to be curb stomped or shot or fucking tortured like too many people have proudly filmed themselves doing "for the environment".

And what a vast majority of ill-informed people are doing is falling into nazi ideology; they fetishize a specific "primordial" environment untouched by "undesirables", be it invasive species or select groups of people. Which is completely ahistorical.

Most humans have never seen an environment in harmony. Most humans have never seen real topsoil or rock lichen at work or 2000 year old trees.

Besides, the environment is always changing, it will always be changing. A swamp eventually fills and turns into a forest, which can be burned down by lighting, be colonized by primary species, and grow right back into a forest. It's called ecological succession.

Plants are supposed to be eaten and felled. When environments are overgrazed and exploited, they can turn into badlands and dust bowls, which are their own ecological niches, but ones that are hostile to mammals.

And whilst the tiktoker was slightly off, they were right that a lot of what is called 'invasive' actually just means "agricultural pest". Because we actively choose to poison the land with pesticides instead of eating insects like weevils and cockchafers simply out of habit, not bc we can't.

And we actively choose to use herbicides instead of companion planting because it's easier to harvest monocultures. It doesn't give us more food, actually it increases chances of famines

The system we have is fucking stupid.

If you wanna kill an invasive species, then at least eat it or use it in some way. Or kill to protect a specific plant or animal (not it's entire species; it's not possible or sustainable for such little people to do). If it's a plant, you should replace it (grow mycorrhizal fungi & mix it with compost + plant the seeds of a fast-growing native or naturalized species like dandelion).

Killing for the sake of killing.. well, it's really no better than European settlers shooting bison from moving trains.

[warriors-rewritten-chaos]

Warrior Cats Prefixes- M

I had a WC Name Generator on Perchance that I made but I don't seem to have access anymore, so I'm remaking it here as just a simple list. The definitions used are the ones that Clan cats have for those things, and thus are the origins of the names. Definitions used are whatever I found when I googled it.

Maggot-: "[noun] a soft-bodied legless larva, especially that of a fly found in decaying matter"

Magnolia-: "[noun] a tree or shrub with large, typically creamy-pink, waxy flowers"

Magpie-: "[noun] a long-tailed crow with boldly marked (or green) plumage and a raucous voice; [noun] used in similes or comparisons to refer to a person who collects things, especially things of little use or value, or a person who chatters idly"

Mallard-: "[noun] the most common duck of the northern hemisphere and the ancestor of most domestic ducks, the male having a dark green head and white collar"

Mallow-: "[noun] a herbaceous plant with hairy stems, pink or purple flowers, and disk-shaped fruit"

Mantis-: "[noun] a slender predatory insect related to the cockroach. It waits motionless for prey with its large spiky forelegs folded like hands in prayer"

Maple-: "[noun] tree or shrub with lobed leaves, winged fruits, and colorful autumn foliage"

Marble-: "[noun] a hard crystalline metamorphic form of limestone, typically white with mottlings or streaks of color"

Marbled-: "[adj] having a streaked and patterned appearance like that of variegated marble"

Marigold-: "[noun] a plant of the daisy family, typically with yellow, orange, or copper-brown flowers"

Marrow-: "[noun] a soft fatty substance in the cavities of bones"

Marsh-: "[noun] an area of low-lying land which is flooded in wet seasons or at high tide, and typically remains waterlogged at all times"

Marten-: "[noun] a chiefly arboreal weasel-like mammal found in Eurasia and North America"

Mayflower-: "[noun] a name given to several plants that bloom in May, especially certain hepaticas and anemones and the trailing arbutus"

Mayfly-: "[noun] a short-lived, slender insect with delicate, transparent wings and two or three long filaments on the tail that lives close to water"

Mayhaw-: "[noun] a hawthorn (Crataegus aestivalis) of the southern U.S. that bears a juicy scarlet acid frui"

Mazegill-: "[noun] a species of mushroom in the order Polyporales, and the type species of the genus Daedalea. Commonly known as the oak mazegill or maze-gill fungus, the specific epithet refers to the oak genus Quercus, upon which it frequently grows, causing a brown rot"

Mazzard-: "[noun] a cherry tree native to both Eurasia and North America, commercially important for both its fruit and wood"

Meadow-: "[noun] a piece of grassland; [noun] a piece of low ground near a river"

Meadowlark-: "[noun] a ground-dwelling songbird of the American blackbird family, with a brown streaky back and yellow and black underparts"

Melody-: "[noun]  sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying"

Merlin-: "[noun] a small dark falcon that hunts small birds, found throughout most of Eurasia and much of North America"

Midge-: "[noun] a small two-winged fly that is often seen in swarms near water or marshy areas where it breeds"

Midnight-: "[noun] the middle period of the night"

Milk-: "[noun] an opaque white fluid rich in fat and protein, secreted by female mammals for the nourishment of their young"

Milkcap-: "[noun] a species of mushroom characterized by the milky fluid they exude when cut or damaged"

Milkweed-: "[noun] a herbaceous American plant with milky sap. Some kinds attract butterflies, some yield a variety of useful products, and some are grown as ornamentals"

Milky-: "[adj] resembling milk in color"

Mink-: "[noun] a small semiaquatic carnivore resembling the stoat, native to North America and Eurasia"

Minnow-: "[noun]  small freshwater Eurasian cyprinoid fish that typically forms large shoals"

Mint-: "[noun] an aromatic plant native to temperate regions of the Old World"

Mire-: "[noun] a stretch of swampy or boggy ground"

Mist-: "[noun] a cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface that limits visibility"

Mistle-: "[noun] a bird common to much of Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa"

Mistletoe-: "[noun] a leathery-leaved parasitic plant which grows on apple, oak, and other broadleaf trees and bears white glutinous berries in winter"

Misty-: "[adj] full of, covered with, or accompanied by mist; [adj] indistinct or dim in outline"

Mite-: "[noun] a minute arachnid which has four pairs of legs when adult, related to ticks"

Mockingbird-: "[noun] a long-tailed songbird with grayish plumage, found mainly in tropical America and noted for its mimicry of the calls and songs of other birds"

Mole-: "[noun] a small burrowing insectivorous mammal with dark velvety fur, a long muzzle, and very small eyes"

Moon-: "[noun] the natural satellite of the earth, visible (chiefly at night) by reflected light from the sun"

Moor-: "[noun] a tract of open uncultivated upland; a heath"

Moorhen-: "[noun] a small aquatic rail with mainly blackish plumage"

Moose-: "[noun] a large deer with palmate antlers, a sloping back, and a growth of skin hanging from the neck"

Morel-: "[noun] a widely distributed edible fungus which has a brown oval or pointed fruiting body with an irregular honeycombed surface bearing the spores"

Morning-: "[noun] the period of time between midnight and noon, especially from sunrise to noon"

Moss-: "[noun] a small flowerless green plant that lacks true roots, growing in damp habitats and reproducing by means of spores released from stalked capsules; [noun] a green color like that of moss"

Mossy-: "[adj] resembling moss; [adj] covered with moss or something like moss"

Mosquito-: "[noun] a slender long-legged fly with aquatic larvae. The females consume blood"

Moth-: "[noun] a chiefly nocturnal insect related to butterflies. It lacks the clubbed antennae of butterflies and typically has a stout body, drab coloration, and wings that fold flat when resting"

Mottled-: "[adj] marked with spots or smears of color"

Mottlegill-: "[noun] a genus of small, black-spored, saprotrophic agarics with spotted gills"

Mountain-: "[noun] a large natural elevation of the earth's surface rising abruptly from the surrounding level"

Mouse-: "[noun] a small rodent that typically has a pointed snout, relatively large ears and eyes, and a long tail"

Mud-: "[noun] soft, sticky matter resulting from the mixing of earth and water"

Muddy-: "[adj] covered in or full of mud"

Mulberry-: "[noun] a small deciduous tree with broad leaves; [noun] a dark red or purple color"

Mumble-: "[verb] say something indistinctly and quietly, making it difficult for others to hear; [noun] a quiet and indistinct utterance"

Murk-: "[noun] darkness or thick mist that makes it difficult to see"

Murky-: "[adj] dark and gloomy, especially due to thick mist; [adj] (of liquid) dark and dirty, not clear"

Mushroom-: "[noun] a fungal growth that typically takes the form of a domed cap on a stalk, with gills on the underside of the cap"

Myrtle-: "[noun] an evergreen shrub which has glossy aromatic foliage and white flowers followed by purple-black oval berries"

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplay Ramblings: Food part 4

(art by @kelbremduskart on Twitter)

 Species Differences

 We’ve talked about culture and location and how it affects how and what foods are made, but something we often assume with food is what is edible to us as humans. Hell, ask any veterinarian and you’ll likely hear dozens of stories about owners that assumed their pets could eat anything they could, and ended up feeding them something super unhealthy or outright toxic to them.

So, let’s take a moment to consider what the dietary needs of other playable ancestries might be, and how that effects their cuisine.

While you can probably assume that the so-called “demihuman” (such a terrible term) ancestries, such as dwarves, elves, halflings, and such has similar tolerances to humans, they might not. Perhaps dwarves are associated with alcohol because their tolerance for toxins is so much greater, which might extend to the spices they put in their food, including things that are outright poisonous or inedible to humans, for example.

Consider also that some species might completely lack the ability to taste or react to certain things. Most birds don’t react to capsasin at all, so peppers might not be used in a tengu’s diet at all, or alternatively, might instead be used as a filler item without realizing the effect it would have on another species that tries it.

Also consider that some species have different tolerances. Catfolk might have a mostly carnivorous diet with only some ruffage to round things out. Meanwhile, lizardfolk and goblins may be less picky about food that is going bad by our standards.

Consider also how a species’ taste would affect how they prepare food. In terms of preserves, they might focus on pickling, drying, or some other method depending on what appeals to them the most.

On the flipside of things, consider what a fantasy ancestry might not like in their food. Perhaps certain flavors that we love are intolerable to them, even for food that isn’t poisonous for them.

And of course, that leads into foods that are indeed toxic to them. Canine and feline species that can’t eat chocolate, others that can’t eat the berries or fruit of a certain tree, and such. Heck, subterranean folk like drow, some kobolds and dwarves might outright find plant matter inedible unless heavily softened by cooking and preparation, having lived off softer fungus and meats.

While this might close some doors in a people’s cuisine, consider how it might open others. For a real-world example, the Japanese Cherry, or Sakura, is poisonous to humans. However, it’s flowers and even leaves are not, and are used to give floral flavor to certain foods and snacks.

 As we can see, there’s a lot more nuance to be had when it comes to fantasy ancestries in a setting than “Oh, they’re a lizard so they must mostly eat meat.” Think hard about the needs of your fantasy peoples and you’ll find yourselves coming up with a menu of their cuisine in no time!

That will do for today, but tomorrow, the conclusion and final thoughts of this entry. See you then!