Emerald Rose

The Emerald Rose is a flower-like plant from the planet Zeist.

Taxonomy
Biosphere: Zeist

Kingdom: Plantae

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Genus: Smaragdoflorae

Species: Smaragdoflora Pulchramis

Morphology
Growing up to half a meter, Emerald Roses a strikingly similar in their morphology to most earth flowers. Their most notable features are semi-translucent petals, tinted in different colors. While green is the wild variant for these, Emerald Roses have been grown to feature a great degree of different colors, ranging from different shades of red to yellow and blue.

The Emerald Rose only blooms once or twice a decade, stimulated by environmental factors.

Occurence
Wild Emerald Roses grow in the higher latitudes of the Riverlands, where the soil is less humid. They nonetheless require considerable amounts of precipitation as well as a stable climate. Since the blooming of Emerald Roses is stimulated by environmental factors, in those years where the flower blooms all Emerald Roses of a given region tend to bloom at once, creating large fields of radiant colors in previously unassuming landscapes.

Cultural Importance
Within Riverlander culture, the Emerald Rose is a sign of affluence and wealth as it is notoriously difficult to cultivate and blooms so rarely. Using advanced cultivation techniques or genetically manipulated variants, the flower can be made to bloom every year and fields of regularily blooming Emerald Roses are a popular addition to the gardens of wealthier families on Zeist and in the No-Maki colonies.