Some types of edible plants you might stumble across while traveling through my (as of yet unnamed) fantasy setting.
These are distinctly non-magical and pretty ordinary, so no awesome glowing leaves or multicolored fronds. Gonna yap about some random fun facts i came up with while drawing these in the readmore :)
Redrock trees get their name from their fruit. Once fallen, they shine and glisten an inviting red on the ground, but their rinds are deceptively tough (to protect from the unfriendly atmosphere). Many people unfamiliar with this fruit might see some fallen under a tree, obscured by some dirt and think "wow thats a pretty red rock."
Pricklebowls (and most trees) grow tough and sharp needles instead of leaves, to protect their precious flowers and fruits from any old forager that might come by. Once in bloom, the flowers emit extremely sweet and inviting smells to attract pollinators (bugs and small birds probably), and produce many wonderful colors for the same reason. Once the flowers turn into fruits (which resemble chestnuts) they're eaten by specially evolved foragers (who either have long necks, long mouths/snouts, or long arms/fingers/nails to grab them through the spines).
Mailleroot earns its name from its peculiar spiraling shape, which resembles (admittedly anachronistically) how metal wire is spiralized and then cut to make little metal rings. I also floated around the idea that the spiral shape only happens when removed from the ground, perhaps as a defense mechanism, to make it harder to bite into?
Camilla is the most similar to a carrot, and its flowers are also inspired by carrot flowers! They have a very delicate flavor and smell, and are usually used for teas and the like. because each plant only makes one little flower, they're also not super abundant, and so camilla tea is saved for special occasions. Camilla flowers used decoratively or "frivolously" are a sign of moderate wealth (after all, why use decoratively what you could be eating for energy?).
Shypots are probably the least common delver in this lineup, because of how dificult they are to harvest. Unlike the mailleroots' and the camillas' sturdier main body, shypots have one thin "root" that travels down to reach the actual uhh. "pot". This is an effort by the plant to conserve energy, and minimize the distance nutrients have to travel to reach the main body. Anyway, that thin root makes it harder to harvest, because it's not difficult to snap it while pulling it out of the ground.
You may have noticed that i haven't used any green in these designs! Or, not the greens we usually associate with yummy edible plants. My setting has a very damaged atmosphere (the sky is an eerie yellow instead of a nice blue) which discourages photosynthesis as an energy gathering strategy. I didn't get too into the biology of it, so don't bother me about it. I just though it was cool!
