Thrunweed

For best results use pickled newts,
mix well with jellied chicken bone,
then boil it down, and add blind mice,
ground baby tooth, including roots,
saffron, Storm Bark, and hair (your own),
soak in Thrunweed juice, along with ice.

-"On crafting Tools of the Witch" from Auntie Lodha's Cookbook

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Thrunweed produces clusters of small yellowish white flowers once annually at the end of summer, usually at the end of Roil or the start of Harvest week. These flowers last for two weeks, then produce tiny blowballs which disperse seeds through the wind.

Growth Rate & Stages

The first year of life for Thrunweed sees it mostly spreading out over a patch of cold, shadowed earth, and does not see the production of flowers. For the remaining 2 to 5 years of the plant's life, it will grow vertically, producing flowers and seeds each year, before the vertical growth falls off in winter, leaving the plant's horizontal mat to hibernate until spring.

Ecology and Habitats

Thrunweed grows throughout Wulsten, most commonly in coniferous forests. The plant thrives best in cool climates, and are abundant in regions near cold mountains. The plants require a shady place to grow, and as such tend towards dense areas of forest or near rock formations where they are shaded for most of the day.

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by ArtBreeder

Thrunweed growing in a typical environment.

Biological Cycle

Thrunweed is a perennial plant, with an annual growth stage that lasts most of spring and summer, a reproductive window of a few weeks at the end of summer, and then a hibernation stage for fall and winter.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Thrunweed is used most commonly as an herbal remedy to common respiratory ailments. If fermented, the alcohol (commonly called Thrunweed juice) possesses a soothing property, and can be imbibed to numb and heal a sore throat or mouth. Thrunweed is also sometimes burned, and the smoke used to aid with headaches, though this practice is less common. Thrunweed smoke has also been used as a way of warding a home against spirits, and it is from this believed property that the use of it for headaches has evolved from, due to a common myth that headaches are caused by minor mallicious spirits.

In Alchemy, fermented Thrunweed is seen as a valuable reagent for heterogenous concoctions. Most famously it is used in Potions of Giant's Strength, in order to allow the chemical and magical properties of the liquid components to react with the properties of the solid components (the Giant's toenail). Thrunweed is also often utilized in the creation of corrosives, or for the creation of magic items that need to be soaked in an alchemical component as part of the enchantment.

Thrunweed sees minor use in spellcasting as a material component, being used as an inexpensive component for casting the Acid Arrow spell.

Lifespan

3 to 6 years, perennial

Average Height

1.5 feet