Bloodgrass
Bloodgrass is a fairly common evergreen knee-high grass so named because of its incredibly sharp blades -- a light brush against a plant is enough to receive multiple half-inch-deep lacerations, and stronger pressures can cut through leather. Contrastingly, it is a vital habitat for xaa, from whose cocoons cloudweave can be produced.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Rhizomes are large and produce a single surface crown from which six to ten stalks grow. The stalks themselves are only two to three inches tall; from them two to four wide, slightly wavy, stiff blades grow to three or four feet tall. Particularly old specimens have known to be thicker and taller.
Biological Traits
Blades are dark brown toward the base; color then changes through orange and yellow to become gold at tips. Color does not vary by season. Flower stalks are brass-colored, while flowers are 0.25", deep blue, round, and produced in clusters of four to six on three to five spikes per stalk. Each plant may produce one to eight flower stalks depending on its age and nutrients gathered that past season.
Genetics and Reproduction
Thin flower stalks begin to emerge in the Season of Closing; wind pollination takes place in the Season of Waiting.
Ecology and Habitats
Although hardy and able to grow in many different conditions, they are most often found in open, well-drained areas with alkaline soil. Colonies become especially thick and established, unfortunately, the greater the amount of iron in the soil -- something easily-accomplished when it gains victims by proxy in its symbiotic relationship with the xaa (and to a lesser extent, penecta).
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