Fantasy Flora - Tumblr Posts
Spirra Starra
A recently discovered plant found on Hoshimi Island off the north coast of Crescent Minoria near Koraln Sing. Thought to be related to several other glowing star plants like it, the Spirra Starra is a unique species only found on Hoshimi Island because of the combined climate it receives from its nearest landmasses. Each continent generally causes the flora there to grow a certain way because of various factors. Crescent Minoria in particular causes native plants to grow hard, generally glass-like, dark-colored stems. The glass-like part often applies to the petals as well. The flora there also thrive at night, deriving much of their energy from the Crescent Minoria moon or the stars. Hoshimi Island is situated such that it receives much of this 'climate' from its parent continent, Crescent Minoria, but is far enough away from it that it is not completely 'governed' by it, which in turn gives rise to many different flora that ordinarily would not thrive in Crescent Minoria soil. Though some of these factors are unclear as stems of varying transparency are found on Crescent Minoria, though they do trend towards dark and more opaque. This is thought to be one of the reasons that the Spirra Starra can only grow on Hoshimi Island, as the clarity of its stem is more like that of a Sky Buddy World clearplant, where its nearest relatives can be found. The Spirra Starra is thought to be a hybrid of several Sky Buddy World plants whose seeds fell or blew out towards Hoshimi Island and found a suitable home there. It is even thought that it could be an escaped plant from some Sky Buddy World gardener who had their hybrid seeds blow away on them.
Despite its proximity to Koraln Sing, Hoshimi Island does not receive a very strong 'climate' influence from the continent, but instead receives a general oceanic climate. If anything, it is thought to receive the other half of its climate from Wing Alayna, despite the fact that Wing Alayna is separated from Koraln Sing, Crescent Minoria and Hoshimi Island by many miles of Buddy Ocean. It is thought perhaps this is due to a current that comes down past Mewga Island off the southeast coast of Wing Alayna and around through Crescent Minoria's Gulf of Luna. Since Mewga Island also has a strong 'climatory' influence, however, the theory is unconfirmed. Proponents of the currents theory will generally explain this discrepancy by pointing out that Mewga Island's influence, though strong on the island itself, is not strong enough to be carried across the ocean, and thus is not the cause of Hoshimi Island's blended climate. While it is generally believed that a continent's influence is bound to its surrounding area, anomalies like Hoshimi Island are beginning to beg the question of what happens to land situated on the border of this influence. Another theory is that oceanic climates bring their own 'default' influence, and that default is generally Wing Alaynan influence. Some of this could be explained by their proximity to Wing Alayna, or perhaps even their proximity to other Wing Alaynan-influenced oceans. Either way, Wing Alayna is generally accepted as the standard for normalcy in many areas, including matters of climate. One may even go so far as to consider Wing Alayna the 'default' state of JI, and all other landmasses are varying degrees of abnormality. Perhaps it should be no surprise then that this overriding default is sometimes strong enough to cross miles of ocean and ignore weaker influences. Either way, Hoshimi Island proves to be an interesting area of study on how the continents influence floral growth and adaptation, just how far that influence can extend, how those influences can blend, and even what it means for a flora to be 'Cresent Minorian,' 'Wing Alaynan,' and so forth.
Münlala Spikalif
Another one of the flora found on Hoshimi Island, the Münlala's stem and leaf texture is a bit more like a succulent than the other more glass-like stems of other flora found on the island closer to the Crescent Minoria continent. It retains many features suited for a dry climate, perhaps evidencing some influence from the other nearest continent, Koraln Sing, or else potentially Wing Alayna where some of its relatives may be found. It is thought to have some connection to the Omu-omu Plantai due to the similarity of texture between the Münlala's stem/leaves and the bracts of the former. For this reason, it is also thought there could be Münlala with a variety of stem colors including purple, as the Omu-omu Plantai is normally found in purple, but as Hoshimi Island is still newly discovered, there have yet to be any sightings of Münlala with varying stem colors. However, it is quite possible that it could be bred to have a variety of stem colors at the very least, and horticulturists are eager for the chance to prove this hypothesis correct.
As for its glowing fruit, there is still not much known. It is thought to be related to perhaps the Spirra Starra due to the fact they both glow, but their connection is tenuous at best. As samples are sent back to the Queen's Palace in central west Wing Alayna for study, researchers expect to have a better grasp on the properties of this newly discovered flora.
Yifli Tinitrii
A small tree found on certain Fuline Ah islands. Also called the Fulinean Varia Maria, some of these trees can be quite old despite their small stature, and are thought to be the ancestors of many of the current species of Varia Maria.
Varia Marias are a genus of plants with a broad range as they tend to adapt and change according to their environment. It was once believed that only one type of Varia Maria grew on each continent, but others of the same and different varieties have been found in various locations. That said, these new types do seem to only grow in a limited range, and even in their native growing area, many varieties tend to be few in number.