Vegetation of Venus

Early reports of the varied vegetation of Venus has arrived from the Exploratory Teams sent to prepare some basic information to forward to the Expeditionary Forces. The following are a fair sample of the plant forms found so far:

Left has the Pith Tree, a soft cored tree that has been found extremely useful. The soft and pliable "heartwood" is a kin to paper mache, exposed to air it can be shaped by hand, then over a couple of days hardens to a toughness of Terran hard woods. The fruits that festoon the tops are edible but have a 1 week shelf life once picked before they quickly decay leaving only the husks behind, which very slowly decay to fertilize the tree.

 To the right is what is being called the Froth Tree, which is found in the mushy "plains" areas. It is useful for making ropes from the tough fibers, similar to a yucca plant. As is seen it grows to tremendous heights. Vehicles cannot seem to push through it very well.

The Scale Tree has a hard bark useable for burning, the purple nuts on top are edible, the leaves though are sappy and sticky, lending a use to glue. It grows rather quickly once its seeds take hold , but the seeds seem to need a long dormant time once detached to start to sprout. Plantation growing of them should provide plenty of fire wood and other useful products.

 To the right is the Bubble Bush, identified by its red, yellow and oranges.  Tough skinned "fruit" actually contains hydrogen gas! The fruit grows in size till it pops off the mother plant and floats off in the air, though in detaching it suffers a very tiny hole that slowly leaks the gas out till it lands, far off, to take root. If secured to the plant the bubbles can get very large and be harvested for hydrogen gas.

To the left are the large broad leafed green Flat Leaf bush's. A source of food for local animals. Terran animals will eat it if nothing else is available, though it gives them serious cases of flatulence....

To the right are the Wax Plant, tall, spiky leaves that are covered in up to an inch of waxy material that make fine fuel for lamps and other wax uses. Fruits are sweet to taste but are  Not Edible! and can cause sever illness and death if enough of them are eaten.

Itchy Thorn Brush is the reddish plants to the left. Fine spines cover the branches. Attached to the spines are tiny seeds. Brush against them and you get stuck with tens to hundreds of them that can cause tremendous itching, though scattering the seeds during the removal of the spines. The plant does not burn well even when left cut and out to dry for weeks.

Constrictor Bush to the right, nasty stuff. Near the stem, touching the hairy leaves causes them to curl in suddenly in a area effect, trapping the hand, arm or what ever touched it trapping it. An acid is exuded and a digestive operation starts. Only quick use of a bush knife to get free will save you as another side effect of the acid fluid is a narcotic effect quickly causing you to slip into unconsciousness.

Water Hyacinth plant is very common in the flooded swap areas. It often hides deeper water and is or can be treacherous to think that there is solid ground under it. Large Yellow fruit is quite similar to Terran coconuts.

To the right another common bush plant which tends to be edible by Terran animals with little or no noticeable side effects. It is also a staple of local wildlife.

The last plant is a problem as it seems to be alive along the lines of simple animals. The fronds "sense" movement and move towards the movement and grapple animals. The tips of the long branches are very hard and very sharp with the ability to pierce into the victim. To be avoided whenever possible!

Lastly are the Walking Trees, which tend to move about all the time, probing the moist Venusian soil for nutrients and or small, slow moving creatures...