Lyssla

Native to the Locorin Swamp of planet Krell, the lyssla palm is a tall tree with knotted roots and wide branches that end in a sturdy fan of fronds, used to compete with other plants for sunlight on the rainy world.

As with so many of the plants on Krell, fruit-loving birds have been harnessed as the primary method of propagation for the lyssla, as the birds tear through the luminous scales and soft, bitter cyan flesh of the fruit, they consume the waxy seeds of the plant and, as they fly about, deposit the seeds in their droppings across the region. Allelopathic compounds from the fruit's flesh also survive digestion, causing any area in which the birds frequent to become increasingly inhospitable for other varieties of trees, contributing to the lyssla monoculture dominating the modern Locorin. These fruits are not often consumed by Elgans however, as the fruits have been too bitter to find much popularity on Krell, particularly when their violent laxative effect is taken into account.

Traditionally, Elgans have harvested the lyssla for a variety of purposes, using its leaves to create thatch for mats, clothing and roofing, cutting its wood for construction, powdering the skins of its fruits to make lyssigar and drawing out its sugary sap as both a sweetener and a material from which to distill lyssla rum.