Approved Species Blood pine

[Engineering core]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: Create a tree for the planet Bretia
• Image Credit: X
• Canon: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: Bretia

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Name: Blood pine
• Origins: Bretia
• Other Locations: No other locations
• Classification: Tree
• Average Growth Cycle: Blood pines take between five hundred and six hundred years to reach their full height. These trees start as seeds the size of a human fingernail. During the winter months, they lay dormant under the snow. When spring approaches and brings warm weather, these seeds sprout into fast growing saplings. Blood pine saplings will grow up to three meters a year for the first hundred years of their life. After that, they slow down and begin to add more girth to their trunk. Blood pines grow cones that average 7.6 centimeters in length and contain dozens of seeds. These cones fall off the trees during autumn months and protect the seeds during winter.
• Viability: Blood pines survive in the cooler climates of Bretia, between 23 celsius and -20 celsius, making it one of the most common trees on the planet. They can survive in a variety of different soil types, from loamy to clay, but don't survive well in real loose or sandy soil given their size. These pines require immense amounts of water, whether from fog, rain or snow run off. As dry climates would severely stunt their growth. Would preserved properly, wood and sad from this tree cam last decades.
• Description: Blood pines are massive long lived conifers, between fifteen to twenty thousand years, that dominate most of the forests of Bretia. These pines recieved their name from their blood red needles, which are surprisingly soft, and their red cones. Their trunks are dark brown near the bottom, which is sometimes covered in moss, while the upper branches with new growth are lighter brown. Inside the trunks runs a golden colored amber that is harvested during the summer months. This amber can harden like stone, which is then carved in very steady jewelry. When polished down it can be used as opaque windows or glass. Wood from these trees has been described as being as hard as steel, requiring saws with specialized blades for cutting. This lumber can be used for a wide variety of uses given its size.

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

• Average Height: 121 to 138 meters
• Average Length: N/A
• Average Diameter: 30 to 35 meters
• Color: Dark brown trunks covered in moss near the base, lighter brown near the top for new growth. Soft blood red needles and red seed cones.
• Nutritional Value: No nutritional value.
• Toxicity: Low toxicity. Sap can harden in stomach if swallowed.
• Other Effects: consuming large quantities of sap can cause major intestinal problems from sap hardening inside.
• Distinctions: Blood pines are easily recognized by their blood red needles and cones. Underneath the thick bark runs golden amber colored sap that is used for jewelry and glass making. The trees themselves provide vast quantities of very strong lumber. These trees provide vast amounts of seeds to small animals and birds, along with shelter away from predators far below on the forest floor. These trees provide enough food and water that some species never leave their branches.

Strengths:

• Resources: These giant trees provide a vast amount of lumber for the Arsenians who colonized Bretia. Whether to build homes or bring in income. Even the sap is useful, once harvested it is harden and carved into jewelry or made into large slabs and polished into opaque glass or other glass like items.
• Fast growing: Unlike most trees that get massive in size, Blood pines grow at a rapid rate, even in their cooler climates. This is beneficial for those who use the trees for a living.

Weaknesses:

• Still a tree: Like most trees, Blood pines suffer from things such as insect infestations, root fungus and forest fires. Blood pines commonly suffer from a species of beetle that eat new growth at the tops of trees. This can sometimes cause a stunning in growth.
• Tough as steel: Having bark and lumber that is very thick can cause a problem for those that are trying to harvest it. Specialized saws were developed to cut through these tough trees. Sometimes the tree itself has problems with its own bark. Harmful insects can get under the barn and make it difficult for helpful animals, such as birds, to remove such things.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Tall and formidable, these giants dominate the forests with their blood red canopies that break through the mist and fog into the sky. The most recognizable and one of the most used trees on Bretia. These conifers were first discovered by colonists to the planet of Bretia. Here, they have been harvested for the past twenty years as a large source of income, second only to Bretia's silver mines. Biologists believe these trees once lived in a small clump of land near the planets equator during an ice age thousands of years before. There ancestors weren't near as tall, but once the ice and cold receded, they grew rapidly in range and size.

 

[The Mongrel]

Engineering core

This is a solid submission. I was initially iffy about having "Tough as steel" as a weakness, since it makes the tree itself stronger, but I think you've justified it sufficiently by pointing out how it can also disadvantage the tree. Approved.