Rockbud

Various Rockbuds types from Shallan's sketchbook

Rockbuds are the most ubiquitous family of plant life scattered across the storm-wracked lands of Roshar. There are many different types of rockbud, but they do share a certain biology: they all possess a sort of "shell" into which they pull their leaves for protection against predators and the highstorms. During winter weeks, rockbuds curl up inside their shells.

After a highstorm, drinking in the wet air, rockbuds that clung to stone would eat away at the stone, creating pockmarks and cracks. From buildings, they would have to be scraped away to prevent the damage. Such rockbuds are a deep crimson.

List of Rockbuds

Common Rockbud

Generic rockbud roots to nothing. When at rest, the leaves open out like panels to reveal the soft, flowering insides, and like the vinebud, it has tendrils that drop out to seek water and nutrition. When closed up, it actually resembles a spheroid rock of some sort. The "panels" that close up around the plant are actually its leaves, which possess a thick, fibrous stalk that contracts to pull the leaves together. The core of the plant is heavy enough that even if it's tossed about by the highstorms, it will settle upright. These are found everywhere in the wilderness, seen frequently in and around the Shattered Plains. They're a common food source for larger creatures like wild chulls, which gain some of the minerals they use to build their "shells" from plants like this.

Fingermoss

Fingermoss sprouts like flowers. Its bright pink and purple tendrils are reminiscent of tentacles waving in the wind. The clumps only pull into their shells if someone taps the rock near them. Fingermoss resembles a vinebud with much smaller leaves and no stem, but many more tendrils.

Grainbud

Grainbud resembles a rock of some sort and contains a thick network of seeds that are similar to rice or wheat. The grain must be separated from the sandy, inedible meat that surrounds them, but once processed they serve as a food staple for many people. The Lavis Polyp is a common variety of grainbud.

Lavis Polyp

Lacks Polyp is a common variety of grainbud, cultivated for the grain it contains.

Prickletac

Prickletac (or Twisted Spine) is a colony plant made up of tiny barnacles that cling together, like coral polyps. Prickletac grows over the dead shells of the previous generation, each little barnacle-like bit is actually a single-leafed plant, and when they break under their own weight during a highstorm the bits are scattered across the environment.

Vinebud

A vinebud is a multi-leafed plant with an outer casing into which it retreats, causing it to swell up and resemble a turnip. When extended, its vines seek out moisture and nutrients while its leaves absorb light.