imicasie (IH mi KAH see)
Holopedia Galactica entry:
Also called "false bogbane", imicasie is an extremely rare, medium-sized woody plant that grows in swampy regions with high baradium particulate content in the water. It has thick, barb-shaped leaves through most of its body that tend to be varying shades of yellowish green, depending on the plant's baradium levels combined with the surrounding canopy cover. The highest canopy layer, however, always has mostly green leaves with nearly imperceptible yellow flecks.
As a defense mechanism, imicasie grows thick thorns. These are clustered just under and behind the leaves. Any herbivore that chomps down on the leaves will be cut by the tips of the leaves and scored more sharply by the thorns, increasing the chance of the baradium specks within the leaves interacting with the freshly injured tissue of the herbivore.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Imicasie grows tiny flowers, which can be dark pink, bronze, dark yellow, and light grey.
Imicasie relies mostly on wind pollination to reproduce. On three of the Tapani Sector worlds where botanists believe it may have originated, tomb-daubers -- native flying insects similar to a jewel-winged mosquito -- are well-adapted to serve as pollinators as they are near the final phase of their own life cycle by the time they begin gathering pollen for nest walls. Once pollinated, imicasie grows fairly large clusters of nuts.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The shells of imicasie nuts can be used (in careful, small amounts!) as shell fragments for firestarter tinder; soaked and separated into fibers to create a low-grade detonation cord; or powdered in a vacuum chamber to create a fast-acting antitoxin if used similarly to the graphite treatment most medcenters prefer.
The nuts themselves, if treated in a fifteen step process by certified expert chefs, become the basis of a luxury tea, imicasschay, or sauce for fish, imicacoyc. Either substance is typically priced at 2500 Imperial marks / 500 spira per 0.15 liter bottle.
Some prospectors seek out clusters of imicasie as a natural indicator of baradium deposits nearby. These veins are almost always difficult to mine, requiring the utter destruction of the swamp above them and for a significant radius nearby. Due to sedimentation, the vein is unlikely to be high-grade in most cases.
Scientific Name
apocynin imicasie
Conservation Status
Rare -- protection status requested of Tapani Ministry of Agriculture
Geographic Distribution
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