Gilamar Skirata
The most important step is always the next one
- Intent: To create an interesting flower and bit of lore for Mandalorians
- Image Credit: Tekkadan Symbol from Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans; Property of Sunrise Inc.
- Canon: No
- Links: Beskar
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Name: Iron Vormur, Ironweed, Iron Blooded Asterid
- Homeworld: Mandalore
- Other Locations: Concordia, Tra'Shebs, Echoy'la
- Classification: Wildflower
- Average Growth Cycle: Takes about 200 days from sprout to adult.
- Viability: Beskar somewhere in the soil. Year round plant except in the region surrounding Krostport where it is a Fall-Winter flower.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
- Average height: 5 Meters
- Average length: N/A
- Color: White with red speckles. Red in Krostport.
- Nutritional Value: The stem can be eaten and is sweet at first with an aftertaste like metal. Its flower is edible with its petals being strangely sweet but lacked the metal aftertaste of the stem and were often candied as treats.
- Distinctions: The Ironweed was a very tall wildflower native to Mandalore. At a maximum recorded height of 8 Meters (bred in captivity for a contest), these massive plants had thick, green stems, green leaves with silver veins, and a large, white and red, three-lobed corolla. In the region surrounding Krostport, the flowers have taken on a completely red appearance with the rest of the plant remaining the same. It is theorized that whatever made the beskar of the region red is what is also changing the flower's pigment.
- Can be made into an interesting tasting mead
- Edible
- Can grow in any climate
- Can only grow in places with beskar, be it trace amounts or full blown lodes
- Fire
- Its a pretty normal flower
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Originally discovered by the Taung that colonized the planet of Mandalore, the Ironweed, or Iron Vormur, was a flower native to the planet. At some point during the Mandalorians' early history the correlation between the flower and areas rich with beskar was quickly made and it was used as a way to prospect for beskar. While most of the planet's soil was rich with trace amounts of beskar which made the flower quite common, only the large "forests" of these flowers typically led to the discovery of large lodes of the nearly indestructible metal. Despite this the flower was brought to other Mandalorian worlds and spread in hopes that the flower would lead the warriors to more beskar which was how the iron was found on Echoy'la and Concordia. However, because of the plant's ability to grow anywhere and its apparent apathy to the climate in which it grew, the flower often took root inside of beskar mines which made it difficult to strip large areas, especially without later advancements in beskar mining technology. Many old and abandoned beskar mines would often have forests of Ironweed flowers that reached the roof of the tunnels. It was also discovered to make a very strange tasting mead from its stem and flower. The mead was very sweet due to its natural sugar content however had a strange aftertaste like metal, similar to eating the stem of the plant. The petals were also sweet but lacked the aftertaste and were often candied and made into sweets. The only part of the plant that was not edible were the seeds as they were incredibly hard to crush and the oil the seeds secreted was a notorious allergen and caused blisters when direct contact with the skin was made. The pollen of the plant also caused allergies in many Mandalorians, mainly in those that lived int he cities or could trace their bloodline back to Boba Fett. It was sometimes alos called the Iron Blooded Asterid due to its ability to grow in almost any climate on Mandalore as long as there was Beskar in the ground and extremely hardy and fearless soldiers and warriors were also at times called Iron Blooded as a reference to the flower.
