Night's Veil (Noctem ardentem)
Fast Facts
Size: A large climbing vine that continues to grow about 33 feet long, and up to 7 feet for the main vine;
Rarity: Common
Harvesting Requirements: Apprentice Farming/Survival;
Cultivation Requirements: Novice Farming
Notable Risks: Contain a sap that can cause minor irritation when skin, and flesh comes into contact with light;
Appearance and Biology
Is a vine that has a habit of growing on trees, other plants and/or structures or simply trailing along the ground and can grow to a length up to 10 meters (33 feet). From the main vine, a woody arching vine that can reach up to 2 metres (7 feet long) extends outward.
This plant can form a dense groundcover or aggressive liana covering plants and/or buildings. The leaves are opposite and ood-pinnately compound, meaning there is an odd number of leaflets, with one terminal leaflet. Leaves are up to 18cm long with 7 to 15 leaflets that are each about 8cm (3 inches) long, and 4cm (1.5cm inches) wide. They are ovate to broadly lanceolate in shape with the edges defined as coarsely serrated.
The leaves are often found as emerald green during Glade which fades to a muted olive green around Ash.
The flowers come in terminal cymes (Clusters of flowers) of about 4-18; each flower is about 9cm long, and has an actinomorphic, rotating, coloring changing petals of 5 with a slight protruding style that has four stigmas though the color changes based on the acidity of the soil.
Under basic soil conditions, the flowers bloom into a vibrant sunset orange to blazing reds, and in acidic soils, Night’s Veil blooms into a deep purple to wisteria hues.
Life Cycle & Habitat
Night’s Veils tend to grow vigorously, found only in warm climates such as Daravin, Grisic & Sil’vaine; these vines initially grow as aerial rootlets from the seedling that seeks out onto any available surface that they can spread their reach as well as grow.
Night’s Veil usually grows in sandy to sandy loam soil though it can tolerate a loam soil albeit at the expense of its bloom being less vibrant. The plant also has a unique property that depending on the acidity of the soil, the blooms will change in color, usually purple in acidic soils but a bright sunset orange in basic soil.
The vines have a growing season during Ash, and Frost and flowering period during Glade & Searing; covering a large area in sweet, floral as well as fruity similar to lychee aromas.
Night’s Veil heavily relies on insect pollination, attracting various insects from butterflies to ants to come & collect purplish orange pollen while it harvests some nectar.
Uses
Night’s Veil is mainly used as an ornamental plant as the flowers would cover large surfaces in a layer of shades of purples and/or shades of oranges during the Early Glade to Mid Searing.
While it is mainly used as an ornamental plant, the Night’s Veil has also been known for its strong aromatic properties to cover scent tracks due to its powerful fragrance which has led to usages including the creation of flower water plus essential oils for perfumery, and fragrances; another usage is extraction of natural color changing dyes when prepared by a skilled chemist can make pigments of various oranges, and purples.
Night’s Veil honey has been made from various honey producing insects & has been described as a leathery yet fruity sweetener by most culinary experts & students alike. The consistency tends to run closer to syrup, and there have been some apiaries dedicated to making Night’s Veil’s honey despite the yield being low to moderate output.
Created By: Treachery
