Sow Slippers

Sow Slippers are a flowering plant with glossy green leaves and large shoe shaped pink flowers covered in a soft white fuzz. These plants grow quickly during a few months in the summer before blooming then dying off. While they can be easily spotted while blooming and the flowers are pretty the true prize of this plant is the small thumb shaped tubers that grow within its roots. These tubers have a sweet nutty flavor, the texture of a crisp apple, and are greatly valued in the culinary world. These tuber however are best harvested while the plant is dormant as close as possible to the start of its growth. If the plant starts to grow the tubers become woody and tasteless as the plant pours all of its stored energy into blooming.
The flower gets its name both from the pink slipper shaped flowers, that some claim look like small pink pigs, and also from the fact that trained pigs are the most reliable way to find the plant while it is dormant. Because the plant grows in remote isolated areas and must be harvested before it sprouts, pigs are used to locate them much the same as with truffles with the exception that there is a much shorter window to acquire the tubers and so serious harvesters often employ teams of specially trained hogs to cover more area. 
Once collected the tubers are easily sold with a premium payed for those harvested closest to the sprouting season. The tubers keep well if stored in a cellar or similar environment to be used throughout the year until the next season. They are culinarily versatile and fit easily into both sweet and savory dishes or pickled, though this is generally an acquired taste.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Waxy fluted leaves that taper to a triangular point.

Ecology and Habitats

Hilly areas with mildly acidic soil with enough tree cover to produce dark rich loam.

Biological Cycle

Dormant for most of the year before growing rapidly during the last one to two months of summer before blooming. Immediately after blooming the plant dies off and returns to dormancy.