Magical and mundane forests for
FORGOTTEN REALMS campaigns

b y   E d   G r e e n w o o d
 

Blueleaf	Duskwood	Felsul	Hiexel	Laspar
Phandar	Shadowtop	Silverbark	Suth	Vundwood
Weirwood	-	-	-	Zalantar
Dragon 125	-	-	-	Dragon

Many varieties of trees common on
Earth are also common in the Forgotten
Realms. In warmer regions, the date palm,
coconut palm, ebony, cypress, and mangrove are common. Evergreens exist in the
northern regions, and most hardwoods
live in the central forests. Birch and yew
are rare in the Realms; alder, boxwood,
the plane tree, redwood, and sycamore
are unknown. Cork and rubber trees are
found only in particular areas in the far
South and are disappearing quickly due to
heavy harvests. (Many recent explorations
of the lands of Chult have been undertaken simply to find new supplies of these
woods.) Common trees of the Realms
i n c l u d e :
 

Apple	Hawthorn	Shadowtop*
Ash	Hickory	Silverbark*
Beech	Hiexel*	Spruce
Blueleaf*	Hornbeam	Suth*
Cedar	Ironwood	Thorn
Cherry	Laspar*	Vundwood*
Chestnut	Maple	Weirwood*
Duskwood*	Oak	Willow
Elm	Phandar*	Zalantar*
Felsul*	Pine	-

Trees marked with an asterisk are
unique to the Realms; these common species are described hereafter. Certainly,
other unique species of trees may be
found in the Realms as well.

B l u e l e a f   trees have leaves of an eerie,
gleaming blue hue, which are many-pointed and rather like those of maples in
appearance. Blueleaf trees are very delicate and have many small branches. As a
rule, these trees are very supple; they
bend in high winds and under heavy ice
loads (rather than breaking), and grow in
thick stands which sometimes reach 40' in
height. The trunks of these trees rarely
attain diameters in excess of 8'. Blueleaf
trees yield a vivid blue dye much favored
by clothesmakers; the dye is derived from
the sap and crushed leaves of the blueleaf
trees. These trees are also favored for
firewood cutting because they produce
beautiful, leaping blue flames while
burning.

Duskwood  trees are 60' tall. These
straight trees have smooth, bare trunks
marked by crowns of tiny branches.
Duskwoods are named for the dark, eerie
appeance of stands of these closely clustered black trunks. Under the black
bark (which shows a silver-gray color
when newly broken or peeled) is wood
that is smokey gray when cut -- and as
hard as iron. Most mast spars and building
beams are made of mature duskwood
trunks. They are hard and resistant to
fire, and they smolder rather than blaze
when set aflame. As a result, duskwood
trees tend to survive forest fires and the
axes of woodcutters seeking firewood.

F e l s u l   are gnarled, twisted trees with a
deep brown hue and a crumbling texture
(old bark constantly rots and flakes away
from a mature felsul). Young felsul trees
are light green in color and are as fresh
and soft as leafy plants. It is only after
felsul are 10 or more years old (and 3' or
more in height) that they darken in color
and begin to twist and curve as their roots
dig deeper and the winds shape their frail
trunks. Felsul grow on rocky crags, cliff
edges, and clefts, providing the only tree
cover in many cold, rocky areas of the
North. In the spring, these trees burst into
flower; the crushed petals of their vivid
yellow-and-purple blossoms yield a delightful, spicy perfume highly prized by ladies
in the Realms. Faded felsul blooms are
carefully gathered each year by venturesome souls, for a large sack of these petals
can command a price of up to 3 gp if
supplies are scarce. Felsul wood burns
poorly and is too weak and gnarled for
furniture or buildings, although felsul-root
is a favorite of those who carve images,
toys, and holy symbols.

H i e x e l   is a green, waxy wood used for
signal beacon fires. It is also used to smoke
meat or fish, or to drive out animals or
enemies. As it burns, this wood creates
clouds of thick, black, billowing smoke
that are both oily and choking. Hiexel
grows in thickets in ravines and on hillsides. The trees themselves are gently
curved and are marked by sparse branches. As a whole, these trees have an
upright, oval foliage shape. Hiexel is a
brittle wood that tends to succumb to rot
easily, but its durable bark is resilient and
lasting, and has been used in the making
of tomes of magic and lore (see "Pages
from the Mages III," DRAGON® issue #92").
Windstorms often fell large or old hiexel;
with age or much growth, these trees
become unstable. In such instances, portions of their wood dry out unevenly,
causing the trees to topple easily. This
same tendency makes hiexel unsuitable
for use in palisades, bridges, sledges, or
other structures exposed to stress and
hard usage. Hiexel is very common in the
Dalelands.

Laspar  trees resemble cedars in texture
and aroma. They are ever-bearing and
have flat needles that grow in spherical
clusters on the ends of a "cloak" of delicate
branches. These cloaks swirl protectively
about a straight, strong, central trunk.
Laspar wood is pitchy and tends to snap
and spit numerous sparks when burnt;
however, beneath its close-shingled,
smooth bark of dusky green hue (which
often forms a surface of small, interlocking concave plates with few large fissures
or rough spots), the laspar's wood is golden yellow and easily worked for furniture
or building, much like pine. Boiled laspar
needles (the clusters of needles are known
as shags) are an effective laxative drunk in
the North, and crushed laspar needles are
used in the making of certain scents, such
as those worked into torches and candles
of superior quality. Laspar moths, so
named because they seem attracted to the
smell of laspar trees, are gray, furrywinged insects of up to 4? in length, with
a wingspan of up to  8'.

Phandar  trees are now uncommon due
to heavy cutting of this wood for many
years. This dearth comes as no surprise:
The curving boughs of a phandar tree
sprout in great numbers from a massive,
knobby central trunk. These boughs are
tough, springy, and terrifically strong.
Phandar trees have triangular leaves of

mottled shades of green. Often, these trees
grow to 60' in height. The foliage of the
phandar tree is shaped somewhat like an
egg laid horizontally, the long axis of the
egg growing in a tail in relation to the
prevailing winds. Phandar wood itself is
greenish brown, with thin, black grain
lines running throughout the depths of the
wood. Jewelry carved of the wood usually
makes use of these grain lines in its cutting to create patterns or pleasing waves
of parallel lines. Tocken (see ?Music of the
Forgotten Realms,? DRAGON issue #123)
are usually made of phandar wood. Bows
 and weapon handles are likewise often
fashioned of phandar wood, although the
curving nature of the wood makes it
unsuitable for spear shafts and the like.
Phandar trees are very hardy; many
young specimens have been uprooted and
carried for many miles and long days
before being replanted. Such private
growing schemes have spread the phandar
over a wider area of the Realms than the
rolling Dales and upland hills of the central Sword Coast North that was their
previous habitat, and this has probably
prevented the complete extinction of this
tree at the hands of loggers.
The massive central trunk of the phandar tree resembles the feared roper in
natural appearance. The phandar?s trunk
is so strong that it can serve as a pillar to
support the roof of a dwelling (although
such trunks are rarely more than 20? tall)
without preparation. These trunks may
also be chiselled and notched to accept
crossbeams without cracking or splitting.

Shadowtop  trees are the soaring giants
of the forests of the Realms. These trees
grow very rapidly (up to 2? a year, if the
weather is warm and damp enough),
allowing some shadowtops to reach 90? or
more in height. Trees of this size often
have massive, pleat-ridged trunks flaring
up to 20? in diameter at the base. The tree
gets its name from the dense clusters of
feather leaves which adorn its limbs. A
shadowtop?s leaves have frilled edges like
those of an oak, with an irregular number
of small fingers. These leaves are coppercolored on the underside all year round
and deep green on the upper surface. The
tops of these leaves fade to match the
underside in the fall. The leaves cluster
from spreading branches that make up the
top 12? or so of the tree, which has few or
no lower branches.
Shadowtop wood (?shadow wood?) is
fibrous and tough, but unsuitable for
carving or structural work, as it has a
tendency to split down its length under
stress into a splayed mass of fibers. The
fibers themselves are valued in ropemaking; a few are added to the twist when a
rope is being made, increasing the
strength and durability of the coil when it
is complete. Shadowtop wood burns slowly (it must be ignited by a leaping fire
composed of other woods) but very
cleanly, with little smoke. The resultant
flames generate an hot fire. Shadow-
top wood is thus favored for cooking.
If more than four wagonloads of wood
are felled, cut up, and carried off for sale
in a city, there will be a large remainder,
which is usually left behind for later trips.
By custom, travelers can usually cut
enough from this pile for a night?s fire
without evoking anyone?s ire.

S i l v e r b a r k   trees flourish in wet
ground, generally near bogs and swamps,
but sometimes in deep ravines in the
depths of large forests. Individual trees
are thin and straight, and seldom more
than 15? tall. Their trunks, which are
usually 3-4? in diameter, serve the poor as
staves, poles, and (with points hardened in
a slow fire) defensive stakes. The silver
bark which gives the tree its name is loose
and crumbles easily (although it does not
peel off in strips as birch does). The wood
of this tree dries out thoroughly after it is
cut and, after a year or so, is brittle and
weak. As a result, silverbark will not do
for lance shafts, fence rails, or structural
work. Silverbark is plentiful and grows
thickly. Its leaves are large and ovalshaped, with pointed tips and tiny sawtoothed edges. These leaves are a deep red
in color, with purple patches where they
attach to their stems and thence to the
branches. The leaves are durable and
waxy, and are often used to wrap fresh
game.

Suth  trees are squat, splayed trees
common around the edges of the Shaar, in
the woods of Chondath, and farther south
in the Realms (the name may be a corruption of ?south?). They grow in almost
horizontal, angled sections, slanting in one
direction, branching out (the low branches
providing balance), then slanting back
upon themselves in another direction. A
few of these trees can provide a visual
screen or wall barring passage to all who
can?t crawl under the lowest branches, for
the branches of the different trees intertwine and double back into a tightlywoven mass. Suth leaves are soft but long
and spike-shaped. These leaves grow in
bunches at the ends of branches and in a
ring around each segment where the tree
limbs branch and change direction. Suth
wood is extremely hard and durable ? so
hard that it is difficult to work unless one
has the finest tools. Suthwood is the preferred wood for shields; if soaked in
water, such shields do not catch fire easily
and almost never splinter. A heavy blow
might crack a suthwood shield (any saving
throw vs. crushing blow should be at +2),
but it wouldn?t shatter it into pointed
fragments. Suthwood is also used in the
manufacture of book covers because thin
sheets of this wood retain astonishing
strength for decades (see "Pages From the
Mages V," DRAGON issue #100).

Vundwood  trees are short and scrubby. They grow on poor ground and are
named for a famous nomadic tribe of
bandits, the Vunds, who were wiped out
long ago by the combined efforts of the
fledgling kingdoms of Cormyr and Sembia.

The Vunds raided with impunity for many
years because none could field strength of
arms against them. They rode like
demons, as one merchant put it, and
would melt away when faced with determined resistance, only to slaughter the
next caravan that came along. The Vunds
inhabited the lands west of the Sea of
Fallen Stars, threatening the long, overland trade routes between the Inner Sea
lands and the Sword Coast. Today, those
rolling, seemingly endless plains are still
dominated by small stands of vundwood
trees.
Vundwood trees rarely top 15?. Rather
than having a distinct central trunk,
vundwood trees have many small radiating branches, which in turn split into
smaller branches. Vundwood is mostly
used for firewood, though it does have a
variety of other uses. Felled vundwood
trees, for example, are often dragged into
lines to form rough fence enclosures,
which are used by farmers to hold livestock or by caravans to serve as overnight
paddocks. Vundwood is reddish brown
and has a spicy smell much like that of
cinnamon. The species has smooth, thin
bark of a deep red color and leaves of pale
green edged with white. These edges
lighten to yellow in winter or when a tree
is dying.

Weirwood  is a rare and highly prized
variety of tree that grows into huge,
many-branched forest giants if undisturbed. Most surviving weir trees are
found in the depths of the huge forests of
the North, and they are actively protected
by dryads, hamadryads, druids, treants,
and rangers. Weirwood will not burn in
normal fires; only magical fire can ignite
or consume it. Weir trees yield resilient,
durable wood that is favored in the making of musical instruments such as lutes
and harps. Instruments fashioned of this
wood create a particular warm, clear
sound that resonates without distortion.
Weir trees are very similar to oaks in
appearance but are seldom seen by men.
A bluelight, dancing lights; faerie fire,
light, or  continual light radiance that
comes into contact with nondweomered
weirwood, cut or living, lingers around
the wood for 2-4 rounds, even if the
source of the radiance is removed.

Zalantar  is a wood of the South; it is
seldom seen in northern lands. These
trees grow in profusion in Chult and along
the southern coasts of Faerun. The Zalantar tree is characterized by black bark and
wood, and white or beige leaves. These
leaves branch in groups of several trunks
from a central root. Zalantar trees may
reach 80' in height, but are usually half
that height. The trees seem to grow in any
terrain short of the most mountainous.
Zalantar wood is strong and yet easily
worked; many caravan wagons, litters,
and wheels are made of it, as are parts of
many southern dwellings. This wood is
sometimes called "blackwood" in the
North.