Alproot
Also popular with gardeners for its vivid purple flowers and ease to cultivate, alproot is best known as the workhorse of Realmgardian alchemy. Virtually every part of the plant has an alchemical use and because alproot is so widely and easily cultivate, it is in ready supply throughout Realmgard.
Although the taste is not particularly pleasant, the extract of alproot flowers has several medicinal applications. The roots themselves are widely used in cooking and are a staple in many parts of Realmgard and can be used as a binding agent in both culinary and alchemical applications. Additionally, alproot plant fibres are used for rope and occasionally textiles.
The use of alproot for cooking and alchemy goes back to at least the period of the Elven Empire and the plants themselves are depicted in art of the Realmgardic period which predates even the arrival of the Elves — though, given the lack of clear written sources for this period, it is unclear what, if any, use alproot had in the Realmgardic period.
Now, alp is Turkish for “brave” or “heroic”, as in the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan, “Brave Lion”. The Seljuks had some good names; Kilij Arslan is “Sword Lion.”
It’s also English for mountain or mountain meadow, as in, well, the Alps. And that’s actually a pretty decent etymology. A flower that grows on mountain isn’t exactly something that needs a lot of explanation or justification…
Neither or those were necessarily what I was going for. I just wanted a purely fictional name for a purely fictional plant. That needed to be purple so I could compare Celeste‘s hair to it…
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