Bloodlicker thistle

Summary

The Bloodlicker thistle is a common sight in the East, seen particularly often on the once blood-soaked fields of the former front lines of the Tiorathan-Felsaedi wars of the first age. The thistle earns it's name from both it's preference for bloody soil and it's nasty cutting needles.

Appearance

Bloodlicker Thistles grow in thick clumps of thin and spindly stalks coated in rigid, malformed thorns. The stalks are a faint and lightly yellowed forest green that contrast sharply with the whiteish-brown tone of the thorns and the blood red of it's flowering crown. The heads of the plants form broad green bulbs that are coated in numerous long needles that eventually split open to reveal blood-red flowers.

Description

The plant has proven itself a nuisance at best and a hazard at worst due to the subtle poison excreted by it's long needles. The jagged points of the thistle's needles are coated in a mild venom that causes muscle spasm in large doses, and large outcroppings of the plant can trap animals and sentient beings alike, with the initial large dose caused by multiple pricks to not only lacerate the victims flesh, but to cause the victim to flail involuntarily until the repeated cuts caused by their struggles causes them to bleed out. The primary source of nutrients the plant collects is from these victims, both their blood and the nutrients contained in their decomposing bodies.

Uses, Relevance and History

The Bloodlicker Thistle originated in the Stranded Easts, specifically Qianna, where competition for the limited space of the tropical region is in high demand. In it's homeland the thistle is constantly chocked out by rival weeds or it dies in the shade of tall trees, however the plant has found a solution that has allowed it to not only adapt but thrive. The thistle thrives in blood and bone enriched soils (that many plants find toxic) and is well adjusted to rocky, dusty or dry soil, allowing the plant to take root where the rainforest plants of Qianna usually fail.
It is these traits that caused the plant to thrive when accidentally brought to the mainland by Felsaedan merchants travelling from the Stranded Easts to the mainland, where the stinging plant soon became invasive. The Bloodlicker population grew so large that it soon became known as Felsaedan blight flowers by invading Tiorathan forces, who first encountered the plant thriving on the otherwise barren battlefields of the Tiorathan-Felsaedi war that dominated the first age.

Native Regions

The Stranded Easts.

Introduced Regions

West Felsaed, East Felsaed

Height

40-120cm

Lifespan

Undocumented

Growth Rate

Rapid

Optimal soil

Blood-soaked soil

Optimal Sun

Moderate shade to Full Sun