Riverhand
Riverhands are uncommon deciduous trees found primarily along riverbanks and (rarely) still bodies of water. They are so-named due to their peculiar habit of splitting their trunk into a hand-like shape and thus going from an upright habit to a horizontal one. The thickness of its root-system has been useful in preventing bank erosion and indeed, preventing rivers from diverting their courses through desirable land; consequently they are sometimes jokingly called 'dam trees'.
They are descended from telwillows and thus related to aife.
Basic Information
Anatomy
For the first ten years or so of its life, it grows upright in a single trunk of around 40ft with a sparse, weeping crown. Then, with age the trunk splits into five segments and slowly bows close to the ground and grows for another few feet, its crown re-orienting itself into a less weeping, more cloud-like shape above its trunks. A thick root system supports it in wet soil.
Biological Traits
Its bark is lilac-gray with fine whorl-like striations. Its spear-shaped leaves are silvery-green that turn gold in the Season of Closing; when in weeping form in the early years of its life, these leaves follow one another in an alternating pattern down the six-foot length of the multitude of thin stems. Once it begins its 'resting' life, it slowly sheds the longer stems and replaces them with thin, shorter, multi-segment stems.
Ecology and Habitats
Vastly prefers moving (i.e., fresh) water and damp soil.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Experiments in using deliberate plantings for irrigation purposes were beginning to take place before the war, but this process has been slow to return post-war.
Young stems are used for wicker in basket-weaving, furniture, and incidental furnishings such as blinds, shades, or screens. Root wood, if harvested and treated correctly, is often used for serving crockery and eating utensils as well as bottles and vases.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Riversides
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