Plant

Example of some plants.

Plants are among the most primitive forms of life on a planet. However not all planets have environments that support plants.

Plants naturally occur on planets in the habitable orbit zone with standard, tainted, or exotic atmospheres that have a density of at least 10%. Plants also occur near the sea on hot inner worlds and cold outer worlds with suitable atmospheres. Plant density on the surface of a planet is visible from orbit as green patches of varying darkness.

Most plants are a source of natural resources. Resource quality and abundance varies for each plant-borne natural resource commodity is the same throughout each resource zone of a planet. The quality of commodities produced does not vary by latitude or by tree specie. In other words, all trees in the same resource zone will produce the same quality logs, no matter what they look like.

Commonly the only use for the presence of plants is that they can be foraged. Farms and orchards grow their own plants, so their placement is not affected by natural plants in the area.

Species

Plants are procedurally generated and are therefore have unique DNA on each world and environment.

Plant species are distributed in each resource zone into three latitude regions: polar, temperate, and tropical. Each of those three regions contains a complete ecosystem of unique plant life consisting of eighteen species of plants, divided between ground cover, shrubs, and trees. This means 54 different plant species exist in each resource zone.

Plants are classified into three types.

Plant Types

Type	Shrubs	Trees	Ground Cover
Beans	X
Fruit	X	X
Grain	X
Grapes	X
Ground Cover			X
Hay	X
Herbs	X	X
Hops	X
Nuts	X	X
Log		X
Plant Fiber	X	X
Spices	X	X
Vegetable	X

Ground Cover

Small clumps of plants with no intrinsic resource value. Ground cover is not a threat to people or animals.

Shrubs

Small to medium sized plants that produce a usable natural resource. A complete ecosystem of shrubs includes eleven species. Each different shrub specie produces a natural resource commodity.

Trees

Small to large sized plants with a thick woody trunk. Trees, like shrubs, produce useful natural resources. A complete ecosystem of trees includes six species. Each different tree specie produces a natural resource commodity.

Defenses

Trees and shrubs may have visible thorns or other natural defenses, usually chemical-based. Shrubs and trees with large thorns or other defenses will harm your character on contact.

The contact area of a tree is the trunk. The contact area of a shrub may not be obvious, especially with widely dispersed shoots. A shrub's contact zone is a circular area centered on its location, slightly smaller than the broadest distribution of shoots. It it is possible to be in a shrub's contact zone without touching a visible shoot in the 3D environment. It is possible to be harmed by small shrubs that may be smaller than the ground cover.

Ground cover never has natural defenses that are a threat to people or animals.