Halophytes II [Setting]
More halophytes, taking inspiration from real-world examples of halophytes. Here are three in-game non-trees very loosely based on real-world halophytes.
Hopeberry (Colloquial)
This is a small bush, only roughly shin-high, with a short lifespan. It's branches never fully harden like normal, woody bushes, instead remaining pliable. This gives them a drooping shape, especially when laden with hopeberries. Most havens in the ground will sprout with hopeberry bushes for a few days after a rain. Once the water is gone, they will wither quickly away, becoming nothing more than kindling.
Hopeberries are thumbnail-sized, red berries that, when pressed, produce a juice which can heal wounds. Using your hands, a mortar and pestle or, if available, a nearby press, the berries are crushed into a pulp. By collecting enough juice (roughly a waterskin's worth), soaking a bandage in it, applying the bandage to a wound, and wrapping it tight, the wound will heal in less than 24 hours. This has been found to work even on fatal wounds, provided the wound can be wrapped appropriately.
A single hopeberry bush only produces a "crop" of berries once. The crop from a single bush is usually 5-6 berries. The average crop from a single bush produces enough juice for a single injury. Just be wary - chances are any living creature who sees a hopeberry bush will want its fruit.
Waterbulbs (Colloquial)
Waterbulbs are recognizable from their long, green, tube-like stems which sprout from the mud around pools of water. They smell of rain and their stems can be surprisingly long - some as tall as an adult human! The longer the stem, the bigger the bulb, which is a good thing.
Waterbulbs grow near water and mature bulbs contain a person's daily need of water. The bulbs are a thin, pale white. They let in light and the water can be seen inside the bulb on bright days (most days). While they are a great source of freshwater, the bulbs are frail and easily crushed, punctured, or otherwise ruined. Their taste is very bland, like an incredibly thin vegetable soup.
Puddle Lattice (Colloquial)
The salt flats are cruel to life. Puddle Lattice is just another proof, as if that was necessary. Puddle Lattice is the salt flats' way of concealing and covering the only specks of life-giving anything across its surface. Like gnarled, aching hands, Puddle Lattice slowly reaches up to enclose around water sources. Their long, sharp thorns do much to keep many creatures away, threatening great pain and bloodshed to drink.
Puddle Lattice is a sharply angled, thorny bush with an interweaving root system with other Puddle Lattice bushes. The ground is often very gnarled and uneven around a cluster of Puddle Lattice. Puddle Lattice roots start on the edge of water sources. As the bushes grow, they fan out over the water source, forming a thorny criss-cross of branches until they become a lid over the puddle. At this point, the mess of branches are incredibly thick and the Puddle Lattice roots are well-established.
Removing the bushes takes a lot of time and effort (and usually some pain). Breaking the branches with the normal club or baton is a long process. Using sharp, slashing tools or weapons is preferred, but those are rarely carried. The thorns are long and sharp, meant to prick and cause bleeding, so as to attract Bad Things to the source of water.