The authors of Floriography: Azeroth and Beyond have collected the meanings and uses of the flora of Azeroth - and, as you may guess, beyond - for your use in more eloquently corresponding with friends, family, and perhaps even your foes. Created by players on Wyrmrest Accord, see the OOC Information section for details about the project.
PLEASE NOTE: This is just the catalog, physical GHI items are still being created. Until stated otherwise, products are still purely IC and do not require IC currency to purchase.
About
The Wonderful Inventory of Terrific Curios and Heirlooms™ specializes in the procuring and crafting of rare, interesting and useful items and reagents from around the world.
We stock materials for several uses, such as magical reagents, alternative medicinal items, and rare (and possibly contraband) books.
Listed is the general catalog for the store. Note that this is subject to change and is entirely dependent on what is and isn’t currently in stock. Will be updated accordingly. Custom orders can be placed with Theodora Gottwald and can be picked up at a scheduled day and time.
Are you willing to accept notes from other Floral Fanatics to add to your findings here?
While the offer is appreciated, at this time I must say no. I had a co-author in the past and it just did not work out and soured me on the idea of other contributors going forward. It might not seem like it but writing, editing, revising, and researching all of this took months of time (albeit spread out over a few years) and I’ve found it gets messy to deal with credit and ideas when there’s more than one author. Also Floriography: Azeroth and Beyond is a book Viletta wrote IC and she isn’t looking for any additional authors for her book.
That being said, I would support any creative projects of others offering additional/alternative meanings. There’s more than one book on every subject after all! :) If you want to talk off anon about working that out please do send me a message!
With Midsummer celebrations and pleasant drinks to be had, it's quite safe to say I've spent far too much time merry-making under the summer sun. Suffice to say, my skin has not taken kindly to it. I wonder if you have any suggestions to share for the treament of this awful stinging and burning. I regret that I must also request a method for soothing hangover pains.
Hello dear,
It sounds as if you’re having a lovely time! Maybe a bit too lovely of one! I kid - enjoy yourself to the fullest. After all, who knows what tomorrow brings.
As for your aching skin, I recommend spineleaf. A native of Outland, it’s readily available now that many botanists have had the time to add it into their gardens. The edges are a bit pointy so be mindful of them! Cut off the larger end of one of the fronds and then squeeze out the salve within. Apply topically to any burned areas and the gel from within the plant should numb the burn and also speed up the healing process!
You may also wish to take a healing draught - just a minor one - to help ease the pain of your burns. It should also help with any fuzzy or sore headed symptoms a night of drinking earned you.
As for your hangover, I cure my own with a greasy breakfast and a lot of coffee. I always feel right as rain after eating a rasher of bacon and drinking a pot of coffee. Make sure to drink plenty of water - or other non alcoholic liquids - too. If you’re looking for a quicker fix, or a less filling one, try distilling two parts moonpetal to one part liferoot. Together they make a potion that will help ease your hangover symptoms and help neutralize the remaining alcohol. Alcohol is, truly, a poison and moonpetal works to neutralize most of them. Be mindful not to add too much liferoot; it can be in larger doses something of a hallucinogen.
I hope that helps and remember to have a glass of water after every few drinks when you celebrate! It’ll help lessen the severity of a hangover come the morning.
Mrs. G- What flowers would you suggest to plant for a snowy and cold climate? Preferably something both lovely to view and useful. Thank you for your time.
Hello dear,
There are a surprising amount of flowers that flourish in snowy climates! I’ll list them here in order of what I find most useful to least. Keep in mind that even the least useful are still lovely to gaze upon - and being pleasing to the eye is very important to some!
Shimmering snowcap: Not only lovely to look at but also edible - and delicious too!
Snowplum: Their fruit is quite tasty and can be used to make wonderful spirits.
Lichbloom: Useful in alchemy to combat undead, some death knights also report consuming it helps ease the pain of their Hunger. (If you’re a death knight yourself or have death knight friends, this plant is likely number one on this list.)
Frost lotus: Can be used in the crafting of several important alchemical tools.
Snow lily: I’ve heard its petals can be dried and made into a tea. While I haven’t had a cup myself, I’m always interested in new teas.
Icethorn: If you are clever you could use its highly reflective surface to do some artful lighting of your garden.
Icecap: Very delicate and difficult to handle (though it ties with icethorn for the latter truly), it has minimal uses in alchemy and other trades. It’s quite comely however.
Winter hyacinth: I have yet to find a practical application for this bloom but it is quite gorgeous. Superstition holds that if offered to the spirit of a lake she will gift you with her blessing which is quite an interesting little story if you ask me - which you did!
I hope you find this helpful. Should you wish to know more of their alchemical applications please let me know. I am an accomplished alchemist but as for the other trades they are used in, I would have to give you a recommendation to someone else.
Mrs. G; I own you're book. I like it. Can you tell me what flower to where to make me look friendly and trust worthy? Please reply I need this for my job and also my life. Thank you.
Hello dear,
It gladdens to hear me that you enjoy my book! It’s always nice to know people have found it a pleasant read!
Now, as for flowers to wear, there are a few options! I suggest mageroyal as the flower means good manners. Wearing it would imply that propriety and good manners are important to you - which is endearing to many. Add a heartblossom flower to show that you have a warm and kind heart and you have a very pleasant message pinned to your clothing.
If those flowers don’t appeal to you, try a white and a yellow rose. White roses express innocence while yellow speaks of friendship. Or you could wear all four! They do have a very nice color scheme all together and would look nice if you enjoy wearing that many flowers.
I do hope this helps - especially as this important for your life. Should you require more recommendations please feel free to send another inquiry.
What flora would/could be used to make someone confused and their sleep patterns falter, make them restless, etc if ingested by tincture (ie. Tea)?
What a delightfully wicked inquiry that blends two of my favorite things: floriography and alchemy! To convey that you hope their sleep is unpleasant and troubled I would send a bouquet of withering dreamfoil with nightmare vine winding around it.
To produce the sort of tea you require, dry one bunch of dreamfoil. When it’s completely dried out, chop up some freshly picked nightmare vine. (The fresher it is the more potent its effect.) Grind the dried dreamfoil into a fine powder and mix one part of the powder with two parts of your chopped nightmare vine. Prepare this as you would a normal cup of tea. The dreamfoil will assure they are difficult to wake up (should someone wish to relieve them of their bad dreams) while the nightmare vine should give them a troubled sleep full of unpleasant dreams. Their sleep will be so poor and restless that they should be rather out of sorts while they’re awake. The longer they take such a tea the more bumbling they should become.
If you’re feeling questionably legal, you could acquire some nightmare seeds - you’d only need five at most - and grind them into a very fine powder. Add one tiny pinch (just a few flecks of the powder) into the nightmare vine and dreamfoil you’ll steep into a tea. Nightmare seed contains a small burst of fel energies and adding it to your tea will slowly tax the imbiber’s body and cause them great fatigue. It’s also highly addictive.
This is, of course, a purely scientific inquiry I assume. I’m sure you’re just a curious individual and not someone planning ill will towards another.
Do you send a lot of letters to friends (and enemies) in character? Floriography: Azeroth and Beyond might be the role-playing resource for you! Collecting meanings for almost every plant mentioned in World of Warcraft (Draenor additions coming soon!), the book is a way to send fun little messages to others!
Readily available and printed in many languages, Floriography: Azeroth and Beyond is easily accessible should you want to use it to enrich your role-playing. Written and maintained by Viletta Grauenvoll, it’s aimed to spread the Language of Flowers to any who wish to become fluent in it! There’s an in character introduction right here and an OOC Information page for more information.
Not sure what sort of flowers to send to convey your message? Send an ask to receive a recommendation from the author herself!
The following weeds are common to what was the human kingdom of Lordaeron. Ruled now by the forsaken, a few of these plants can provide a sense of nostalgia for the living who hail from the land. While others have a wholly new meaning for the forsaken that reside there.
Broom Weed:
Commonly found in the Silverpine Forest and Tirisfal Glades, broom weed is a plant that very much resembles its name. From off the central thicker stalk many thin, dry branches spread out - much like an upside down broom. As they provide no use whatsoever and their growth can be difficult to rid in a garden once these weeds settle in, broom weed is not an expensive nor often desired plant.
Smaller specimens were once dried as a welcome good luck gift to newlyweds and new home owners before the fall of Lordaeron. These little charms, resembling miniature brooms, were said to be a ward against uncleanliness and ease the burden of housework. Decorated with ribbons and small personal trinkets, these gifts were often a sweet thing for younger siblings or a sentimental mother to give their child when they were leaving the nest.
Though not as fashionable of a gift as it once was, these small “brooms” are still sometimes gifted by older relatives or friends who can acquire the weed.
Doom Weed:
This weed grows in almost unmanageable quantities in Tirisfal Glades. Were it not for the many uses apothecaries have for it, doom weed could very well choke out much of the rest of the plant life in the area. But luckily, or perhaps unluckily, this weed can be distilled into a potent poison and, when combined with other ingredients, can produce one of the plagues used in the forsaken’s various chemical weapons.
The dark grey and purple plant is hard to spot in the shade of the glade and requires delicate handling due to the spiked edges that are very sharp. Many a would-be gather has given up after a deep wound from the leaves!
Just as the edges may wound those that pick it, this plant shows the recipient that you feel that they too breed ruin - namely your own. Arrangements of doom weed are often sent to someone that has committed some wrong doing - something far more than a minor slight.
Alternatively, as the spikes are coated in a substance that induces effects similar to drunkenness, this plant can be sent as a symbol of the intoxication your intended causes in you. Care is urged when using this meaning as most assume the worst at the sight of the doom weed.
Gloom Weed:
The lands that were once Lordaeron are not often described as what most would find to be traditionally beautiful. Much of the flora and fauna are now warped, decayed versions of what once thrived there. But of all these, gloom weed is very likely the least attractive plant. A small bunch of grey leaves hanging limply from a shriveled, dead looking stalk comprise the plant known as gloom weed.
This plant often can be found overtaking run down structures or in the rubble of what was once a fine home. As it is so dreary in appearance and often accompanies such disrepair, gloom weed had adopted such a meaning for itself. Morose youths may wear small bunches of this plant pinned to their clothes - or even wound in their hair - as a way to rebel against the cheerful, chipper peacebloom or the hope of the orange marigold.
To send gloom weed is to carry a message of decay and disrepair. Often the precursor to an angrier message, gloom weed is never a passionate plant. It is too dreary to carry such emotion and often is overlooked when received as it is as unappealing as its message.
Womb Weed:
Womb weed is a small plant that grows in clusters of vines with light white and pink flowers along the branches. Traditionally these plants were dried and braided into wreaths among the peasants of Lordaeron and given to wedded couples (especially newlyweds) as a blessing and hope for many healthy children. When Lordaeron fell and, with its lands now populated by undead, there are few people that send this plant anymore.
Forsaken tend to view this plant in an ill light as they cannot biologically reproduce. To some it is a reminder of what they once were and what has been lost to them. On occasion it is given to those in charge of training the newly raised undead as ‘well wishes’ for their ‘child’.
This is not a polite gesture whatsoever.
If the wreath was sent without the dried blooms attached it was taken as a sign of unkind hopes for the couple or were it sent to a pregnant woman, spiteful wishes against her and the unborn.
Growing on the rocky cliffs of Tirisfal Glades and extending slightly into northern Silverpine along the western coast, Xavren’s thorn is a hard to acquire plant. The decay of the lands have caused a sharp decline in its growth and such is not necessarily a bad thing considering its main use. When added to plagues brewed by forsaken apothecaries, the concoctions become far more painful and much more infectious.
The edges of Xavren’s thorn are knife sharp and can, in a desperate situation, be used as a cutting implement. Paper thin and lacking any stiffness, this application is not recommended at all. With its keen edges and harmful uses Xavren’s thorn carries nothing in the way of a pleasant message.
More skilled apothecaries sometimes send this potent plant to their lessers as a harsh rebuke regarding their words or actions.
Only found in Dustwallow Marsh, this plant is rumored to have been planted by the Black Dragonflight that surrounded Onyxia’s lair in the south. To spot wyrmtail look for thick green vines wrapped around a faintly glowing green core that pulsates slightly - similar to a heartbeat. This pulsing is likely intended to distract passersby, making them easier prey for the black whelplings and others that still inhabit the area of the swamp it grows in.
An invasive species, the native environment of this plant is unknown. When it was brought there it grew wild and in great quantities, pushing back other native flora. Time and necessity have changed that, making wyrmtail harder to find than it once was.
It has a faint magical aura and, when properly picked and prepared, can be used to ease pain and heal minor wounds. Due to this it has become prized by residents of the marsh. After the fall of Theramore it gained even more popularity with some of the remaining Alliance aligned holdouts due to the lack of easily accessible supplies.
Wyrmtail was introduced in a course of tragic and unfortunate events and this plant has come to hold such meaning now. Though practical people will accept offerings of it for the uses it has, to give it as a gift in a floral arrangement is a spiteful gesture. This is a quick way to earn the ire of the one you give it to as such a gesture implies you find them tragic, their presence an unfortunate burden you are struggling to make the best of despite your distaste for them.
A plant native to the area of Gilneas, wolfsbane has gone by several other names before the worgen invasion. Once it was discovered by noted Gilnenan alchemists to be toxic to the feral worgen it was aptly renamed. A short, hardy shrub with clusters of purple flowers wolfsbane was rather common in Gilneas. Forsaken alchemists learned of its properties and were quick to use this to their advantage during their war efforts in the once solely human kingdom.
Wolfsbane is incredibly harmful to worgen and in some Alliance controlled areas it is an illegal substance that requires a permit to purchase or possess. Prolonged exposure to small doses can cause fatigue in worgen and, in larger quantities can lead to violent illness or death.
Rarely is this plant sent as doing so requires, legally, one to go through the proper channels. Though some anti-worgen groups have taken more underhanded means in acquiring it and sending it to more prominent members worgen. The purple flowers are worn as a badge of intentions by some of those groups, some of them seeing themselves as the ‘true’ Gilneans.
Before the curse befell Gilneas the plant was seen as a ward against danger. Some people, more often commonfolk, dried it and wove it into wreaths to decorate their homes. When its use against worgen came to light this meaning only strengthened for those fearful of becoming infected themselves.
Similar in appearance to mana berries, some botanists believe there might be a distant relation between the two plants. However, unlike mana berries, witchberries lack any magical properties. While quite tasty to eat, they don’t have the same effect on arcanists that mana berries do. Unlike mana berries, this plant is rather hardy and does not rot as quickly once picked. They’re much more easily transported and, since they have almost the same taste, witchberries can serve as a wonderful alternative in recipes calling for the more expensive, harder to acquire mana berries.
One way to tell the difference between witchberries and mana berries at a glance is the size. Mana berries are about the size of a human child’s closed fist while witchberries are small, cherry sized berries. Witchberries are a truer red while mana berries are a magenta hue.
Witchberries are more often found in kitchens than bouquets but, on occasion, a sprig with the berries still attached is sent. While they don’t have the enthusiasm of mana berries they still spell that the sender is bewitched by you. You are a sweet presence in their life and one they’d like to become better acquainted with.
Only found near the shallow waters of marshes and streams of Kalimdor, witchbane is a plant with broad leaves and a taller, red central stalk. Easy to spot amongst the duller flora, this plant been used by many different peoples for similar reasons. Witchdoctors of troll tribes and shamans and druids of the tauren people have used witchbane in cleansing rites. Some of the more ‘educated’ people look down their nose at those who would employ witchbane in exorcising evil entities and spirits.
To do such the plant’s leaves must be gathered and dried. Then they can be collected in small bundles and the smoke of the smoldering smudge stick wafted about the area. It is said that the fumes from witchbane will cast out the unwanted and wicked spirits that linger well beyond their time.
Because of its uses witchbane has come to be known as a plant that shows you desire to be left alone. To receive it is a suggestion that you cease pestering the sender as they are not in the mood for you. It can also be seen as a threat; magic users of more unsavory practices that are sent witchbane may take it as a sign that they are wanted gone or cast out.
There is only one place in all of Azeroth where the winter hyacinth grows and somehow, despite the chill of Northrend, it manages to thrive. Adventurous spirits can find it at the Ironwall dam, on the border of Crystalsong Forest and Icecrown. The light purple flowers and vivid magenta stems stand out like droplets of blood against the snowy dam and the superstitious maintain that winter hyacinths only blossom where the blood of faithful and innocent people was shed. Like kingsblood, this rumor only adds to the charm of the flower and lend strength to the message when it is sent.
A constant sight on the slopes of the Ironwall dam, winter hyacinths are a sign of consistency and are also offered as a token of fidelity. To receive a winter hyacinth is to know the sender will be yours and yours alone without fail. Sometimes it is sent as a precursor to a proposal of marriage for the less brave souls to test the waters before taking such a plunge.
Found only in the corrupted Felwood, windblossom plants are difficult to harvest as they require purification before they can be picked. Doing such is a lengthy process few have interest in attempting and as such windblossoms are infrequently sent. After they are cleansed their hardy nature can be appreciated but few find the effort rewarding. Difficult and hard to grow, few seek to keep windblossom in their gardens.
The berries are very sweet when freshly picked but even minutes off the stem they grow bitter and leave a foul aftertaste. Thus far there has not been a successful method found to prevent such a happening.
Windblossom has an unpleasant light attached to it. Often viewed as a difficult plant, to send one is to express your feelings that the person receiving it is cold-hearted and callous. Alternatively, they may be sent as a notice of rejection. In that instance they’re used to tell the other party that you just can’t be bothered to care for them - just as so many cannot be bothered to try and invest the time in the arduous process of purifying the plant.
This small shrub is most readily found in rocky, mountainous areas of both Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Its white flowers are bright against the green of the bush and helps would-be collectors gather it with greater ease. A somewhat uncommon plant, the hard to reach areas it grows in make it slightly more valuable than some of the other Azerothian herbs.
Deep root systems keep wild steelbloom plants firmly grounded despite the rough terrain they thrive in. Their immovability has lent an air of steadfastness to them and the white blossoms of the shrub are often gifted as a sign of just that. The delicate flowers are sometimes used as decoration on trinket boxes or journals, either painted on or pressed and lacquered there.
Though due to the troubles gardeners have in relocating it from the wild, the herb also has been known to mean implacability. Wild steelbloom is almost impossible to successfully grow anywhere but where its natural environment and this hard to appease aspect of it has passed on to the flower itself.
One must carefully consider the arrangement they are sending when using wild steelbloom. The nature of the relationship and how well the recipient knows the sender must be taken into account lest feelings get hurt unnecessarily. Unless, of course, that is the sender’s intent.
Whiptail is a plant found only in marshy terrain and on the banks of rivers. Though it appears to be a rush, whiptail is a type of sedge. The pith of whiptail can be made into a parchment-like paper commonly used by the natives of Uldum to write upon. After the Shattering trade opened with the Tol’vir peoples of the Ramkahen tribe bringing books and scrolls scribed upon whiptail paper to other races of Azeroth.
The varied nature of the paper - thin and easily rolled when made into scrolls and thick and rigid like vellum in other cases - makes it an interesting material. Scribes and scholars have quite the range of opinions on it, ranging from adoration to loathing for this whiptail paper. Tol’vir are notoriously tight-lipped about the creation process of whiptail parchment and very few, if any, outsiders have been taught the method. Due to the demand for it and the inks that the head of the plants can be milled into, the price of whiptail can sometimes be quite high.
To receive a book or scroll crafted of it is said to be quite a remarkable gift and one given in great fondness. The sender considers the one to receive it very scholarly and worthy of such an item rarely found outside of Uldum. Viewed as a plant that holds connotations to learning, scholars often receive it in bunches as a token of favor from colleagues and students alike. Though because of its practical applications, few vases full of whiptail remains purely decorative for long.
