An Old Clawleaf


This is an aging long-frond clawleaf tree. One can tell because it's foliage is getting sparce and it's limbs knotted and lumpy. This specimen was probably about one thousand Earth years in age at the time. This image was recorded in 2271ad. It was growing in the shallows of the Lhar about halfway between Shampala and Zhlindu where the Lhar spreads into wide plains of lon. It probably sprouted when the sea receeded from this spot.

This one was about as big as a clawleaf can get. It was almost one hundred feet tall with leaves up to eight feet in length. The diameter of the trunk was almost ten feet at the waterline. The higher gravity of Kassidor causes trees to need more wood for the same amount of leaf, even though the leaves of the hangleaves and clawleaves are very light for the amount of surface area. Clawleaf wood is quite airy and their horizontal limbs are elliptical in cross section.

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