Lyslure Shrub

The Lyslure shrub is a parasitic plant that grows upon the roots of the Lyslure Trees of western Eldurgrund. While the forests are sparsely populated by anything sapient, these shrubs sustain diverse environments of insects and reptiles, as their fruits serve as the primary source of food for local consumers. As with the trees it drains, the shrub has red flowers, though they appear similar to a sunflower, rather than a rosebud. Unlike the local trees, the shrubs are also incapable of controlling the appendages which are illuminated by the lyslure sap they consume. 

Prevents Overfeeding

The shrubs are theorized to work in a delicate immune balance with the Lyslure Trees. As the shrubs drain resources from the host, the ever luminescent flowers attract consumers, allowing the fruits of the trees to continue growing over the season. 
Whenever research on the trees takes place, it is customary to remove shrubs from trees that have become overgrown with parasites, in order to keep the trees from dying. Local traders promote the idea out of fear for consumer resistant strains of shrub, as it may negatively impact the Lyslure Tree population, harming the trade of psychedelic honey that nearby bees produce.

Healing Fruit

The fruit of the shrubs are common in healing rituals in Renad , the neighbors of humanity across the pond. The nature of their use in rituals is hardly understood, but the j'barri will pay exorbitant amounts for baskets of the strawberry shaped fruit. The lords of Peatwood use the fruits for religious rituals as well as for the inherent energizing effect of the juice.

Foul Taste

The thick juice and leathery skin of these fruits can already make it difficult to consume, and the taste hardly helps. It reportedly tastes similar to copper coins, and leaves your hands with a similar stench that's nearly impossible to wash off.

A Recent Development

The Lyslure shrubs are a recent discovery by a dispatch of Eldur monk researchers. The most recent mention of these particular shrubs is 35 years ago. While it is possible that the shrubs were originally consider part of the tree, nothing of their description has been mentioned in the past, leaving many to believe the shrubs are an invasive species. 

Attempts have been made to grow the shrubs elsewhere in order to determine if their inherent similarities to the Lyslure Trees are coincidental, but no attempts have proven successful, as the shrubs die outside of the haunting forest's ideal conditions.