Flora

Dirtberries

Dirtberries are so named due to the earthen-brown color of their fruit. Dirtberries are sweet, starchy legumes grown underground in thick pods, not dissimilar from peanuts. Unlike peanuts, however, the number of nifs in a pod are typically 8 or more. They have a rich, savory and fatty flavor and are used in a number of baking recipes as an alternative to a number of Earth-grown legumes. They are an extremely hardy plant and can be grown in an variety of soil conditions, though they do require constant watering, much more so than other native flora.

Cage Mushroom

Cage mushrooms are aptly named thanks to their cage-like structure. They are a notoriously odorous fungi, with a stench not unlike decaying flesh. It is not unusual to smell a Cage mushroom before you see it. While their noxious aroma is an excellent repellent for mammalians, flies and other insects are attracted to the smell. The inside of the fungus is lined with a thick, slimy mucus that can trap insects inside of the mushroom, where they eventually expire and the fungus feeds on their desiccated corpse. Corpseflies are an easy prey for the bright orange cage mushroom, and their rancid stench keeps away any meddling animals.

Dragoneyes

Characterized by the bioluminescent purple fruit this thick, fibrous stalk-like plant produces, the fruit of the Dragoneyes plant has been likened to a cross between a plum and a peach; it features sweet, tasty flesh and a brightly colored pit. Dragoneyes are a moody plant and only grow in specific temperatures and environments, usually more easily found in Onia's temperate forests. The plant begins as a brown-colored stalk that eventually grows to the same height as a human, its surface pockmarked by multiple recesses. It is in these recesses that the plant's fruit gestates, and when ripe they are shot out from an ejection of gas that builds up within the stalk. Harvesting Dragoneyes plants is famously dangerous thanks to the extreme muzzle velocity of its ejected fruit, with records as high as 300 meters per second. Equally, mishandling of or accidentally puncturing the plant can result in explosive decompression thanks to the volatility of the gas contained within.

Weeping Blackcaps

These black-capped mushrooms are commonly found in caves or in areas shadowed from Onia's binary suns. Weeping Blackcaps are not dangerous on their own, but they continuously secrete a hallucinogenic liquid that gives the impression that they are 'crying', hence their name. This blue fluid is a psychoactive drug; when ingested or absorbed through the skin it causes hallucinations and acts as a mental depressant. They are highly prized by certain colonists, however, as fermented Blackcap secretions are a potent bootleg liquor. It is not unusual to find homesteads or small bars serving this mushroom juice, colloquially known as the Tears of Dionysus.

Birdsnatchers

At first glance, this predatory plant might be mistaken for an Earthen palm tree. This is half true - when the Coalition first terraformed Onia, one of the many species they attempted to seed on the planet was, in fact, the Earthen palm tree. It had great difficulty adapting to the alien world, though, and eventually it cross-bred and mutated with a native species to create the fearsome Birdsnatcher. Curling, bioluminescent tentacles dangle from the tree's structure; as birds come near to land and rest, these tendrils snatch them up and slowly curl inwards until their prey are nestled close to the trunk of the tree. It then secrets an acidic fluid that dissolves the creature into a nutritious soup the plant can consume. There are tall tales of Birdsnatchers that have grown large enough to grab colonists, or in extreme cases, shuttles and small ships.

Presidential Marigold

A faintly purple and white flower, this Earth native flora have grown to be far more hearty and woody in the presence of Onias modified climate. To the extent that their stalks can be used as improvised lashing.

Sweet Poppy

A bright orange and black flower, these floral pieces are typically a signifier of more robust, worthwhile fungi within the soil beneath, such as things like truffles and morels readying to reproduce. They typically also attract more aggressive scavenger animals as a result.