Glossary • Flora and Fauna and More-A • Ga ~ Gz
Gavinogia {ga-vih-NO-gi-ah}
plant of the planet Oraea
These fruits grow in faintly-glowpulsing bulbs that bulge directly from the trunks of the trees themselves, and can be found only in those few lands bounded by that gnarled and mistful forest called Gewareh Glent. The trees are not rare per se, nor are they endangered - but nor have they lived in any state of broad abundance.
For the humes of Oraea, initial encounters with these growths marked their first recognizable encounter with the presence of tree intelligence; only to in time discover that their first encounter was with the most ancient of tree intelligences on their planet. Certain records suggest it is from this very forest that the humes of Oraea may have first emerged, or at least first arrived, or at any rate first explored. Or, if nothing else and indeed for sure, were definitely and distinctly changed by.
The fruits, in all their rich - often even glowing - shades of reds, indigos, and rare plum-blues, are famous first and over long eras of history for their uses as inks. Any uses for tisane were a much later accident in their more recent history. In fact, there is hardly one accepted version of the 'how' this accident came to pass; the only accepted idea is just to celebrate the range of creative potentialities, and retellings of the story are encouraged to become new-tellings.
Due to how embedded the fruits are in the trees, there are only a handful of known ways to access their deceptively-deep wells of juices. These are:
1) Certain uses of certain frequencies to actually vibrate the fruit free from the tree;
2) The finding of a natural or pre-existing wound in a trunk that allows for removal;
3) Removal of the whole fruit immediately upon tree's death. The fruits that remain in the tree after its death will each soon sprout a new tree, with these multiple sprouts in time entwining to create the thick rippling trunk structure that defines the full-grown trees. This is what’s meant to happen. Thankfully it does not take many fruits to produce a great number of shoots, as each fruit hosts its own whole mess of seeds. Even with Gavinogia’s current place as the new taste sensation of Oraea, the trees remain quite comfortable with the overall ecosystemical balance.
The flavor profile can - depending on specific area of growth and other varietal factors - include ample hints of effervescent honey, threads of clove, ripples of dark cherry, plumblossom sunbursts, and the long shadows of the darker berries.
When foraging on Earth, substitute any kind or combination of red apples.
Genti {DJEN-tea}
plant of the planet Oraea
Wherever the Genti grow on Oraea, they grow with vivacious numbers and spirit. They especially love to live ascending beside descending waters.
The petals of the plant are the part you want.
Commissioned by humes of Oraea themselves, imagined by Avay dreamers and encouraged by florafluent horticulturalists, these are vines that climb and twist with alacrity and grace and burst their greatest bloom in the first week after summer's end, when stairways of juicy silver petals emerge in spirals that wind from the vine's root to its farthest reach. Harvest the petals in the last hours of night to enjoy at their most fragrant, or in the last hours of day for a more stone-dry taste.
Whichever way your flavor feelers swing, press the petals to release the juices - and gently too, or too much of this precious nectar can far too easily be lost. Depending on a host of factors, a healthy plant will bloom up to three times before first frost. Do not harvest more than 33% of the petals per bloom period (a number which is found to be a healthy principle for many plants, event as far as Aya).
When foraging on Earth, substitute hibiscus.