Dusk Blossoms

Dusk Blossoms are a form of flower native to Yuriba. These particularly rare blooms appear in groves around and on the slopes of Engetsu-san, usually in the shadows of large trees. While they can be difficult to locate, Dusk Blossoms are hailed as one of Yuriba's most beautiful flowers, and their unique qualities have earned them a romantic reputation.

Appearance

The Dusk Blossom bears passing similiarities to certain breeds of lily. The stem of each flower is thin and coloured a very dark green, the leaves small, thin, and tapering to narrow points. Typically the leaves grow in three or four tiers before the stem flares to meet the flower itself. The blossom's petals are snowy white and form a shallow cup before dipping outwards and tapering to soft points. Within the cup, small blue-white fibers grow, with anywhere from three to six longer fibers rising out from among the main bundle. One to three blossoms can grow from a single seed; the seed itself is carried on a small spore.

Defining Traits

Dusk Blossoms take their name from their most peculiar quality. Unlike most flowers, the Dusk Blossom grows through a process of lunar photosynthesis - that is, while sunlight is harmless to it, its petals absorb moonlight and convert it into energy, which the flower in turn uses to grow. The process is visual. As the blossom gathers moonlight, the stored energy radiates through the petals, which give off a very soft glow in the pale white-blue shade of moonlight. A patch of Dusk Blossoms seen in the evening glows with a cool, soft light of its own, and the sight is considered one of the most beautiful in Yuriba.

More beautiful still is the Dusk Blossom's means of reproduction. During the spring the blossoms emit small spores - tiny little stalks with a puff of pollen at the tip. These spores rise from the flowers around midnight and waft lazily through the air, each spore glowing with a soft light of its own. Even a small group of Dusk Blossoms can fill the air with gently glowing moon spores. Nights on which the flowers produce pollen are considered special and particularly romantic by many locals, and Yuriban tradition speaks frequently of weddings, marriage proposals, and other acts of love performed beneath the glow of drifting Dusk Blossom pollen. Typically the flowers produce seed spores from late March through to the middle of April.