Solo The Science of Plants

[Kaidan Arianos]

Timestamp: 1st of Fall, 512 A.V. "And that's it for class today..." said Kaidan's botany instructor. "Be sure to look over your notes that you've taken on plant life around Zeltiva, especially those on the deciduous forests that surround the land." Sighing a bit, Kaidan looked down towards his paper that he was writing on, with his quill, and noticed that it was full of information fromt he classroom that day. He had a lot to study, and it had been a full class of many students with similar interests. Three papers worth of notes to study from, and nothing else interesting that would distract him from it. Deciduous forests, he thought, and looked down again towards the notes he had taken. The rest of the class was starting to get up and leave, so he decided it best that he did the same. Putting the papers in his backpack, so they wouldn't get ruined, he got up, and began to make his way out of the classroom. Man, I can't wait til we actually get to start working with plants, he thought. He had grown flowers at his home when he was younger, and always had an interest in learning about them. His father thought it odd, but never questioned what his son wanted to learn, and his mother, well, she was the one whom first instilled the interest in plants within him. Making his way out of the classroom, and finding his way to the library, he took a seat and began to read what was written within his notes: Botany - The Study of Plant Life Zeltivan Forests are deciduous in nature, and the mountains surrounding the city have many of these forests that cover them. Deciduous trees within the Zeltivan Forest include, but at not limited to: Maple, Oak, Beech, and Elm trees. Maple Tree - Most Maple trees grow about ten to fourty five meters tall. They have leaves with five points upon them generally, with veins running from the stem of the leaves up to the tips of the leaf points. Maple trees do flower, and each flower can be colored Red, Orange, Yellow, or Green. Their leaves, like all deciduous trees lose their brilliant green hues when fall comes around, and degrade into a redish or yellowish tone before falling forth from the trees. Oak Tree - Normally reaching approximately 65-85 feet tall, the oak trees are divided into several types. These can be white oaks, bluff oaks, and blue oaks. Most of the trees found around Zeltiva are white oaks. They flower in springtime, and lose their leaves in the fall like most deciduous trees. thier leaves have six to seven lobes, and many veins leading up to these lobes. After having thoroughly read this portion of his notes, he sat back for a moment to take a breather, and break, trying to memorize what he had written by constantly reading over the notes he had taken. Sadly, Zeltiva didn't have much agriculture within the city, and to actually see these plants, he'd have to leave the protection of the city in order to find them. He wasn't at all looking forward to that, but knew that he'd have to do it sometime if he really wanted to study the biology of plant life. One day, he'd hoped to have a garden to study from, but he didn't see that day happening anytime soon. For now, he'd just continue to study within the library, reading over his notes on the deciduous forests of Zeltiva...

[Kaidan Arianos]

As Kaidan continued to shift in his seat, and took a look through his notes once more, he saw some more information that he had written down from the previous class, his first class on botany. The deciduous forests also held elms and beech trees. But what type he wondered? He'd really have to take that trip outside of Zeltiva to study them, and at least look around in the wilderness of the mountains. Shielding would come in handy if indeed he needed to protect himself, so he was lucky in a sense that he knew how to shield. And his Reimancy might help as well. But he wasn't looking to disturb the nature, or looking for a fight, he was looking to learn. And the only way he was going to do that was to go outside and see for himself, spend some time within the wilderness. But for now it was back to writing his notes, and reviewing what he learned from his class that day. Elm Trees - These trees typically grow more than thirty meters high, or over one hundred feet tall at their peak in life. The leaves can grow up to 20 centimeters long, or be as small as 7 centimeters. They have serrated edges. The Elm trees that grow around Zeltiva are hermaphroditic, and can self-pollinate, therefor have no need for male and female trees, and can reproduce on their own. Beech Trees - Beech trees can grow about 27 meters tall. Their leaves are about five to fifteen centimeters long, and have serrated edges. Beech trees can grow in a variety of soils, so long as they aren't like Cyprus trees which grow within water only. Sitting back as he read through his notes, he yawned a bit, and looked around. Many people were milling the room, and he wondered when they would actually be raising plants in his class, as well as venturing out to study the various plants within the city of Zeltiva. He knew of a few, his favorite being roses, and the rose bush. He also enjoyed carnations, but you didn't see very many of them around the city. The rarer flowers he enjoyed seeing too, not that he knew many of their names at the moment, but he was hoping to learn more by reading through the varying texts on botany that were within the library. Finally after finishing reading through his notes, he decided it would be time to get some practical experience. His mother had a few carnations growing near her house, perhaps he could look at them, and try to understand the parts of a flower better by examining them. And thus, he was off to check them out, and see what exactly he could learn by looking at a Carnation...

[Kaidan Arianos]

Well, he was nearing his mother's house, having walked through the city of Zeltiva, near the northern edge of the city. Knocking upon the door, and looking towards the side of it where the carnations always grew in a hanging garden, a matronly woman answered the door. "Oh Kaidan!" she said smiling, very motherly, and serenely. "Welcome home, what brings you here today? How was your first day of classes?" she asked. Kaidan grinned, and said, "We're learning about the Deciduous forests that surround Zeltiva's mountainsides. Oaks, Elms, Maples, and Beech trees... but I had come by to study one of your carnations and water them, as they are looking a little bit down," he said. "Have you been remembering to water them?" The query was posed as he looked towards her, having glanced back to look at the carnations which were drooping a bit. "You know your father always took care of the flowers with his reimancy... I have to do it the old fashioned way, and get a bit forgetful about them sometimes... Could you take care of that for me while you're here?" she asked. Nodding in consent that he would, Kaidan said, "I'll be outside for the time being... studying their structure, and watering them, to perk them up a bit..." And with that, he bowed his head to her politely, and then made his way over to the carnations which were in hanging pots on the side of the porch of the house. Looking into the first one, he sighed, and it looked like it could use a decent watering. He'd have to remember to come back here a bit more in order to maintain the flowers for his mother, as he knew she loved looking at them, but was quite forgetful when it came to actually taking care of them. So as he looked towards the first of the three carnation hanging plants, he began to extract the res from his body, making it into a liquid ball overtop of the carnation plant. Then, he'd slowly transform it from the outside to the inside into water, allowing it to shed it's layers into a form of dripping rain onto the carnations, so that they would soak up the water he was transforming his rest into. He didn't utilize very much, as he didn't want to risk overgiving. His father had always warned him about that, and he definitely didn't want any transmutations of his body by utilizing too much res. Onto the next plant, once that ball of res was completely transformed, and dropped onto the Carnation's soil, so as to give the carnations water, and allow them to perk up more when the sun hit them in the morning. The next flower pot, he'd do the same to, forming the small orb of res, then slowly transforming it into the element of water, one he'd learned to work with since he was younger, and allowing it to fall into the pot's soil, so that it would water the plants, and provide them ample sustenance for them to survive longer. Even though it was autumn, and they'd probably be dying soon, he still wanted them to last as long as possible, and remain as beautiful as possible so that his mother had something to keep her hopes up until Winter arrived. Finally onto the last pot, he'd form the ball of res, and finish the transmutation process into water, allowing the final pot to be watered, so that the carnations would live just a little longer than they would have if he hadn't come by to water them. Now it would be time to study their structure a bit, in order to try and understand them a bit better than he did before. Pulling his notes out of his backpack, he looked at the notes on Carnations, and would try to identify each of the parts listed in his notes with the flower that happened to be sitting before him...

[Kaidan Arianos]

As Kaidan looked over his notes, he began to wonder what parts of the carnations he could identify utilizing the notes that he had taken within the classroom that day. They had talked about flowers, and specific parts of them, such as the stems, calyx, corolla, androecium, gynoecium, leaves, ovule, and pericarp. Looking down towards his notes, he began to scan through them to find the section he had taken on each of those parts of the flower. Stem Structure - Stems consist of the woody parts of a tree, and help with the structure, as well as the base layers of a tree. Stems have various rings within them, that can help us tell the age of a tree by counting these rings. In flowers, and smaller plants, stems also contribute to structure to help hold the flowers upright. As Kaidan read about the stem structure, he knew that was easy enough to identify on the carnations. It was the green stick that stood upright, connecting to the roots, and the flowers. It also had leaves that sprouted out from the side of it, which he identified next as he read the next portion of his notes. Leaf structure - Leaves consist of the epidermis, the mesophyll, and the veins. All of these contribute to the structure of the leaves, and holding the leaves upright upon the plant. It is assumed that these are filled with some form of a liquid as when you potentially break a leaf, some liquids escape from them. Carefully pushing the flowers aside, Kaidan would uncover the leafy portions of the flowers, examining them with the utmost caution so as to not damage the plants he was carefully working with. Last thing he wanted to do was kill some of his mother's plants by accidentally breaking a flower off of a stem, or something of the sort. Once he finished with the leaves, he'd finally move onto the flowery portion of the carnations. Calyx - Also known as the Sepals, the collection of sepals that is, is the pieces of the bud that break away to reveal the flower. They function as protection for the flower when it's still in the budding phase. So Kaidan carefully lifted up the flower to peek underneath of the petals, and there he was able to identify the green pieces of the plant that extended out from under the petals, which he could easily tell happened to be the Calyx of the flower. Once that was completed and identified, he turned to look towards the top of the flower to see if he couldn't identify the Corolla of the flower. That would technically be the easiest portion to identify. Looking down towards his notes though, he wanted to be sure he knew exactly what he happened to be looking for. Corolla - The collection of petals on a flower. They usually can give off a smell, so try smelling the petals up closely if you come into contact with any flowers you might find in your journeys. Well, that was easy enough to find as he looked towards the carnations. Yup, there were the petals, a beautiful hue of red, just like Kaidan enjoyed. Placing his nose close to the petals, he would breath in deeply, and smell their aromatic variety that came from the carnations. It was almost intoxicating as he allowed the scents to fill his nostrils. Moving his head back, he still felt a bit woozy from his use of Res when watering the plants, but that was to be expected. He had at least not overgave watering the plants, and had a lot of control over the spells he was utilizing in order to water them. Anyways, he thought, onto the next portion of the flower. Androecium - Also known as the stamen of the flower, produces the pollen in a flower. They usually stick out of the corolla, and have sticky tips to them So, as Kaidan continued his examination of the Carnations, he finally found them, though they were a bit tougher to find than the obvious corolla or calyx. Instead of sticking out, they seemed to be buried deeper within the corolla, but still had small little yellow tips sticking out, which he carefully touched and felt to see if they truly happened to be sticky. That they were, and he was happy then that he had taken the time to actually search for them, and found out that the pollen came off on his finger as he withdrew it from the corolla of the carnations. Looking towards his finger, which had little yellow bits of pollen on it now, he brushed it off against the wooden flowerpots, and then looked back down towards his notes in order to see what the next piece of the flower was on his list. Gynoecium - commonly referred to as the Carpel of the flowers, which usually produce the ovule, and eggs that get pollinated by the pollinators (such as bees or beetles), and produce the seeds of the flower. Very difficult to find in some flowers, unless they are dissected. So Kaidan began to start his new search for the Carpel or Gynoecium of the flower, and unfortunately, he was unable to locate it in the carnations that he happened to be examining. And he was too scared to clip off one of the corollas in order to dissect it and find the portion that he was looking for. Hopefully they would do that in class as a theoretical lab of some sort, so that he could actually figure out what they did and their purpose. For himself that is, not just what the professor had spoken of that day. Well, if he couldn't find the carpel or gynoecium, it was very unlikely he'd find the ovule without dissecting the flower as well. So he just read over the portion of his notes that talked about them in order to study it and try to memorize it for future classes. Ovule - The ovule gives rise to the eggs, that are pollinated by the pollinators, and then that creates the seeds that can be utilized to grow more of the same type of plant that created the seeds. Pericarp - The pericarp is the fruit's anatomy, and is made up of three distinct layers. The Exocarp, Mesocarp, and Endocarp. These three layers surround the ovule, which produces the seeds. It is also very hard to find the pericarp on most flowers, unless you know where to look for the fruit of the flower. Poor Kaidan definitely didn't know where to find the fruit of the carnations, so decided that he'd wait again until class to learn more about these specific parts of the plants. He'd have to ask his instructor and possibly invite them over to his house in order to see if they couldn't assist him in identifying the final few structures of the carnation that Kaidan was unable to identify. Hopefully the instructors would be receptive of the idea, as Kaidan was definitely eager to learn more about what he was studying, botany, and the like. Looking up from his notes as he put them back into his backpack, he saw the sun was about to set. Perhaps it's time that I get back to the dormitory, he thought, and i'll continue my reading of notes, and studying there. Making his way back towards the door to his matron's household, he knocked upon it once more, and when it opened, revealing his mother, he said, "I've watered the flowers with my reimancy, and am going to head back to the dormitories for some dinner... I hope you have a good night mother, and I'll come visit you more often while i'm in school to help take care of your carnations, as I know you enjoy looking at them, and they sooth your troubled soul..." She smiled sweetly, and nodded, a hand placed upon Kaidan's cheek. "I love you son, don't become a stranger now that you've been accepted to the university..." Kaidan smiled, and said, "I won't mother, thank you for allowing me to examine the carnations and help take care of them... I'll see you later!" And with that, Kaidan left his matron's household, and made his way back towards the dormitories, where he'd continue his studies of plant life from the notes that he had taken that day during class...

[Kaidan Arianos]

And so Kaidan returned to his dormitory, at the university, and after a hearty meal, he was tired from the walk across the city to his mother's house, the studying he had done of her carnations, and the studying from earlier that day, and the class which he had focused intensely upon. Then there was also the reimancy that he had utilized to water the plants. That in and of itself took a bit out of him, as he was still a beginner at it, and still learning the ropes of using Res to create water. He generally only utilized it for mundane purposes, such as watering the plants, but he felt that someday, he'd have to learn how to utilize it for other purposes as well, especially as he got better at it, and worked to learn more theory behind it. Taking a seat on the bed, he pulled his notes on botany out once more, and began to skim through them again, rereading the previous notes that he had written down during class, and preparing to read the newer notes, the ones on tree structure. They included the structure of wood, tree trunks, and roots. Wood Anatomy Bark - The outermost layer of woody plants, this layer is mainly utilized to protect the plant, but also can be used for nutrient transfusion. Cork - The cork is a tissue found in the periderm, and utilized for secondary growth, which replaces the epidermis. It is considered a layer of bark, and helps with the outward growth of a tree or woody plant. Heartwood - A naturally occuring wood, it is resistant to decay, and shows the growth rings in a tree if it is cut horizontally across. This allows one to count the number of years old a tree is, by counting the heartwood of a tree, which also can contain the phloem, secondary phloem, xylem, and secondary xylem, as well as the vascular cambium. Heartwood is usually more towards the center or pith of a tree, and is darker in color than sapwood. Sapwood - The outermost wood of a tree, which contains the secondary growth, as well as the bark of a tree. It is usually a lighter hue of color than the heartwood, and is a bit harder than the heartwood, as it's not carrying the nutrients through the phloem and xylem that the heartwood is carrying. Branch Collar - The piece of wood that attaches a branch to another branch, or to the trunk of a tree. Taking a break from reading his notes, and studying them as much as possible, he took a swig of water from his flask, and laid down a bit, holding his notes up in the candlelight as it had now turned nighttime, and he had to light a candle in order to continue his studies. Bedtime would be soon, but he wanted to get through the root structures first, and then sleep would arrive. Thus, he looked towards the root structure notes he had taken that day, and began to read them through sleepy eyes. Root Structure Roots - The portion of the plant that lies beneath the surface of the soil. Some plants have aerial roots, but this is an uncommon occurance, and only seen in rare types of plants, so we won't be focusing on them this term. Root Hair - The hair on the epidermis of a root, that collects the water, and nutrients from the soil the root is buried within. Epidermis - The outer layer of material on the root. Epiblem - A tissue that replaces the epidermis in aquatic plants. We will not be focusing on this during this term, so do not worry about it. Cortex - The outer layer of the root, bound by the epidermis. Pericycle - Further in the root, considered the outermost portion of the Stele of the inside of a root. In dicots it has the capacity to produce lateral roots, further enhancing the root structure of a plant. Tired of studying, and from his use of reimancy earlier that day, once Kaidan was completed reading the structures of a root that he had taken from his notes in class earlier that day, he laid his head down on the pillow, blew the candle out, and then fell into a deep slumber, only to be awakened the next day, fully prepared for class now that he had completely studied, the structure of roots, trees, flowers, and the different types of trees that surrounded parts of Zeltiva...

End.

[Arcane]

Rewards and Treasure! Experience Points +5 Botany +2 Reimancy Lores Botany: Deciduous Trees in Zeltivan Forests Botany: Characteristics of Maple Trees Botany: Characteristics of Oak Trees Botany: Characteristics of Elm Trees Botany: Characteristics of Beech Trees Watering Plants with Water Reimancy Botany: Anatomy of a Flower Botany: Anatomy of Wood Botany: Anatomy of Roots Studying Diligently Miscellaneous n/a Comments Repetitive use of magic will rarely net XP, but I'm being generous this time due to your newbie status, novice level in Reimancy and because of a sufficiently acceptable amount of description. In further threads, I can only grant 1 point for repetitive/mundane magic at novice levels (or 0 if not detailed enough), and 0 at competent and above. In order to progress, you need to challenge your character. Flirt with the boundaries of danger if you wish to play safe, but staying securely in the comfort zone means that you will never improve in magic. The theme of magic is always about risk and reward, without taking risks your reward is minimal. I do appreciate showing his wooziness from overgiving. Regarding the "Botany: Anatomy of..." lores, note that this is different from just a "Lore of Anatomy of Flower" which would probably just refer to knowledge of stem, root, flower, leaf, optional thorns, etc. With the Botany tag, it makes this knowledge so much more specialized and detailed. As always, keep in mind the medieval setting, knowledge, technology and science of the era in future threads. Finally, as a generic warning, everything that you write on Miz should be original. Copying from sources should never be an option. With that, I bid you good day