Silverstem Clover

Silverstem Clover is a low-growing plant whose silver-tinted leaves catch and reflect sunlight, helping the plant conserve moisture through Tauria's dry steppe seasons. Its flowers are small, white, and globe-shaped — delicate on their long stems, catching dewdrops in the early morning and holding them until the sun burns high enough to evaporate them. After overnight rain, a field of Silverstem Clover shimmers as if the ground itself has been scattered with light.

The roots release nitrogen compounds that restore fertility to exhausted soil, making it essential to the tribe's crop rotation. Enki has established a chain: Silverstem Clover draws Burrowhorn colonies, Burrowhorn tunnels aerate the soil, aerated soil grows better food crops. The whole system is a closed loop.

Giliad's Field Note

The leaves are not silver — they have the quality of silver, that particular grey-white that catches light differently at each angle. In the early morning when the dew is still on them they seem almost to glow from within. Enki says the nitrogen cycle alone would justify planting them everywhere. She is doing it anyway. — G.