Caltree
The Caltree builds itself joint by joint, its furrowed, ribbed trunk rising in deliberate tiers like a ladder pressed into living earth. From every node fans a spoked halo of broad, paddle-shaped leaves, and mature specimens may stand between five and twenty-five metres, elder giants said to brush the low clouds. So widespread are Caltrees across Elshore that marshers and meadow-folk take a sprouting sapling as a sign of plenty.
Key traits
- The trunk grows by articulating new segments, each reinforcing the one below, granting resilience against flood winds and drought tides without splintering.
- Bark thickens from glossy green youth into a hard shell capable of enduring the hammering heat of Namii Cosmology The Binary Suns Two stars share the sky of Elshore: Uhiel, the warmer and steadier light, and Namii, the smaller and more ominous companion.'s zenith and the razing storms of Stormtide.
- Radiating fronds arranged in spokewheel layers maximise sunlight capture while shedding excess moisture, allowing the Caltree to survive from swamp basin to hilltop.
- A crowned Caltree casts spores like falling silver rain, marching its kind steadily across the land.
- Young, spatula-shaped leaves can be dried and milled into a fine meal known as marcher's flour, or steamed whole as hearty wraps; in harsher seasons entire villages have survived on Caltree leaves alone.