Belfir

The belfir tree is a hardy conifer native to Paperweight, which resists the arctic conditions of their native climate by producing and storing an antifreeze resin in its thick bark and bushy branches of needle-thin leaves. As belfirs can live and grow for centuries given adequate resources, their widening canopies tend to make the forest floor even colder as they block out the light, making each belfir forest a monoculture, with only the hardiest plants able to survive in their shadow.

The Belauls make their homes in the tallest belfirs, where they weave communal roosts out of wood to catch the light of both Paperweights twin suns and find shelter from the harsh weather. Belwood cut from younger trees is used widely for construction and decoration, admired for its strength and resistance to the cold. It has a sloping grain, and a dull grey-brown coloration.

Belfir resin is concentrated in it soft heartwood and its needle-shaped leaves, and is used by locals to fuel fires when away from the nest, to reduce the buildup of ice and snow, and even to treat and dye fabric, with the resulting pale belfiric yellow being a commonly used color on Paperweight.