It is quite arrogant to believe that every species in the megaverse lives on precisely the same staples that we here on Earth rely upon. It is conceivable to believe they would rely on sustainance from their world's various species of plants and animals. Now then is the big question - when traveling to a distant world with questionable food stock or availability would it not be natural for them to bring with them the necessities they feel they may need to live? In my opinion - yes they would, at least the most intelligent and survival minded of them would.

      As such, here is a page dedicated to Exotic Extra-Dimensional Crops & Uses.

      It is an odd note to see that the Elves and Wolfen both regard some of the same staple plants to be equally important to each of them - given their odd history. (Some theorize that at some point in the past Wolfen and Elves once were VERY close, but that issue has never been confirmed - though evidence would suggest it were so.) While elves, however, regard meat of woodland animals to be a supplement to fruits and vegetables harvested, Wolfen regard the fruits and vegetables to be supplemental to the meats of woodland animals.

      Many elves, not knowing what they would find on this new world, have chosen to bring some of these staple food plants with them to Earth ensuring that they would have the stable foods they are so familiar with. Once arriving here, in some cases, even the natives accept these crops as potential agricultural blockbusters. (In Wa-Daisho all of these varieties are now being cultivated! See Wa-Daisho's Crops for details.) Here is a description of some of the most major plants brought with them.

      This plant is so hardy that it grows just about anywhere it can set root, except in sand and soil high in alcalinity. In appearance, it looks like it is made up of LONG asparagus spears that grow from one central root, like a pincushion, that leads 1 1/2 to 2 feet under ground. The central root will grow a "Bulb" above the ground about two weeks after the temperatures reach 40 degrees F., and then the "Spears" will begin growing VERY rapidly following this. When immature the spears are a light green color, but as they mature they gradually darken to a deep burgundy eventually reaching a length of 12-16 inches. At this point the spears may be harvested - all told about 1 week after the bulb grows above ground. Every week there after another crop of spears may be harvested without detriment to the plant! In climates where the temperature never gets below 40 degrees F., the Spears may be continually be harvested - indefinitely. The plant can endure temperatures up to a maximum of 104 degrees F. for limited durations before beginning to suffer from wilt. It is quite resistant to all forms of scabs and blight. In areas poluted by fossil fuels, such as on the Palladium world where there are oil pits, or volcanic activity, the spears of this plant absorb some of the toxicity and become quite poisonous.

      When mature the spears taste somewhat tart like Rhubarb complete with the celery like crunch. It is commonly eaten in this fashion as a breakfast food or as a snack. During the afternoon meal or the evening meal however it may be prepared via steaming or smoking. When steamed the heat has a reaction in the spears to give them a sweet, almost buttery flavour, but still with a slightly tart aftertaste. The favoured method of preparation, however, is smoking. This compliments the delicious sweet buttery flavour with a strong smokey undertone that completely eliminates the tart aftertaste.

      If the spears remain unharvested a week after reaching maturity, they get very woody in texture. Around this time 26 buds will appear at the end of each spear and sprout into brilliantly colored lavender pink flowers. These flowers when picked at this point can be boiled in water to draw out the color, once the flower petals are strained from the water, the water is boiled down to concentrate the natural dye from the flowers. This dye can then be used to paint or dye clothing with, depending on how far down the water is boiled.

      Provided that the plants are located in an environment with active bees, after about another week, the flower petals will fall off, and the 3-6 seeds below each flower will grow to about 3/4 the size of a Sunflower seed. These seeds ARE edible when roasted, and taste almost exactly like a sunflower seed - but the shell and all are edible. These seeds are also cultivated for cooking oils, snacks, ingredients for recipes, and as a medium for medicinal potions. All told a crop of Grofwhin Seeds may be harvested from the plants about every five weeks. (Note regarding the name. Grof is Dragonese for Burgundy/Deep Red, while Whin is a word for all of the Spiney plants in their native lands. Spears is not the word they would use to describe what is being eaten, naturally, it is the elven word for leaf "Wena". Meaning that the name pretty much is, Red Spiney-Plant Leaf.)

      Another variation on the Grofwhin plant, BUT these turn a more tan color when fully mature and ready for harvest. The taste of Rouwhin Spears is much the same as the Grofwhin Spears when eaten raw, but with a slightly acidic aftertaste. When steamed or smoked however, the Rouwhin Spears almost seem as though they were candied they are so sweet and buttery.

      When it is not eaten as a dessert staple by the Elves, Rouwhin Spears are often steamed, mashed, and then mixed into a Daughlie bark flour base with honey, fruits, and/or berries then baked into flat cakes. These flat cakes are typically served warm, and are called Bisra by the Elves.

      When allowed to go to seed, the flowers of the Rouwhin plant are a deep blue color. Like the flowers of the Grofwhin plant, these are sometimes harvested and used to make paint or dye. Unlike the seeds from the Grofwhin plant, the seeds of the Rouwhin plant are very bitter and acidic, worthless for eating even when roasted. They are also substandard in terms of oil production as well, as compared to the Grofwhin plant's seeds.

      A breed of edible moss that grows on dead wood. The elves cultivated this breed of moss quite heavily, by growing it throughout their woodland communities.

      It is fast growing, usually with a thick shaggy coating ready for harvest inside of 2 weeks after preparation. It will continue to grow back in week long intervals provided that the harvester knows how to strip the shaggy covering without taking the "roots" of the moss off of the surface of the wood. It is usually prepared by boiling followed by straining it thoroughly and then seasoning it with a fruit wine vinegar, and then eaten. In terms of flavour it tastes like spinach with a texture more like that of a head of broccoli, with the vinegar it has a decidedly Earthly mediterranian tartness to it.

      A small thorny bush that seldom stands any higher than 4' in height, that is widely cultivated by the elves and flourishes in both shade and light in hardwood and conniferous forests equally well. It is cultivated for a number of purposes by the elven peoples, largely being because just about everything they bear is edible!

      Their leaves have a tough lettuce like texture and flavour to them, and are often eaten as plain salads by the elves, with deermilk white cheese, and a fruit wine vinegar as the toppings.

      The fruit of the bush though, is composed of a green pod that has five segments to it. After a brief blossuming period that produces white flowers with red veins (Not useful for dyes.) these pods grow into being about the size of a man's fist. These will eventually dry out, and fall to the ground. Contained within are five large nuts with a walnut-like smell to them, but are a bit sweeter of a nut than Walnuts.

      The Daughlie Nut is often eaten on the trail with Grofwhin Seeds as Elven rations. It can also be ground to a pulp, and milled into Daughlie Butter - a sweet buttery sauce often spread over Daughlie bark flour flat bread. The nuts can also be oven dried and ground up to make a nut flour, which is used in a number of elven recipes such as a honey glazed, multi layer fruit topped cake eaten during special celebrations, or made into small spheres and fried in Grofwhin Seed oil, then eaten plain or glazed in honey. These seeds are also the key ingredient as a mash that is then brewed to create Elven beer.

      Finally, the bark of the Daughlie itself is also edible, and is as much a staple in the Elven diet as wheat is in North American's diets. It is ground and beaten into a flour and then used to make elven flat bread. Prepared in this fashion the bread tastes something like a hard crusted whole wheat loaf of bread, but with a slightly woody taste to it.

      A wide dark grey mushroom that grows on the shaded sides of trees. This mushroom is a parasite organism that feeds off of the tree it grows upon, seemingly with no negative effects to the tree in question. It grows best on oak, cedar, elder, and trees similar to this. It does not seem to adapt well to evergreen hosts, however, and usually appears rather stunted in appearance when found on these. (If the tree is killed, the Pous will die as well.)

      The elves gather this mushroom in large quantities both for use as food and secondly as a source of yeast. Pous, the elven word simply for "Tree-Mushroom", has a tough texture for a mushroom, and has a cool slightly bland flavour. As a source of yeast, Pous have a thin layer of yeast on the very top of the "shelf" these create. This yeast can be scraped off of the Pous and then added to the Daughlie Nut Mash mixture for making Elven beer.

      Note that elves most often are aware that adding yeast to flour will cause it to rise when baked, but this largely human tradition has not been adapted to elven culture very commonly.