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Plants, fungi, insects and microbes of the Elemental Fire
Ash Willow
Black-barked ash willows are huge trees which thrive in the Cinder Wastes, although they can grow in other places too, even pools of lava. These trees spread their roots far and wide, secreting viscous juices that hold together the infertile soils of fire and ash that they grow on. Ash willows constantly rain cinders that are a byproduct of their growth, as well as puffy dark seeds. This detritus makes ash willow forests a convenient place for creatures to hide from roaming war-bands. There’s also a curious dwarf subspecies of the ash willow that grows in the Everlasting Firestorm and spreads along the ground to better withstand firestorms ravaging this part of the plane.
Source: Dragon Magazine #347 p48 (the dwarf subspecies is homebrew)
Ember Root
This is a plant (as much as anything on this flaming plane can be considered a “plant”), that resembles shrivelled coconuts. This visible part of the plant is pretty much useless, and only eaten by some rodents, while being mildly poisonous to everyone else. The true value of ember root lies in its tuber-like roots. They are filled with warm juice, that is made of water—something rarely seen in the Elemental Fire—and magically kept cool enough to be liquid. Ember root plants collect this liquid as means of protection from native herbivores and diseases. However, for Prime adventurers finding a haul of ember roots can be a lifesaver—ember root juice is drinkable, unless the root has been damaged and contaminated. Fire gnomes have even tried to domesticate these plants, although they haven’t made much progress—ember roots seem to require more water (well, steam) to grow than they produce.
Source: Dragon Magazine #347 p48
Fiery pandanus
The fiery pandanus is a much more common, but in no way less useful plant. They are medium-sized trees that can reach sixty feet in height, and look similar to the pandanus and palm trees of the Prime Material. Like those plants the leaves can be used for weaving fire-resistant mats, baskets, coverings for roofs, and many more useful everyday things. Fiery pandanus wood is also usable for consruction, although it becomes far too brittle to bear loads under temperatures lower than 500 degrees. Pandanus fruits are edible, for fire-based creatures at least, although very bland.
Fire beetle
Hundreds of species of fire beetles inhabit the plane. Some of them live in flaming trees, gnawing on their bark, others are diving beetles, who feed on tiny swimming animals in the liquid flames. These beetles have nothing to do with giant fire beetles known on Prime—those things aren’t even immune to fire!
Source: Inner Planes [2e] p44, brief mention only
Fire plankton
There isn’t much more to say about the fire plankton than about plankton in any other sea. This is an assortment of tiny creatures, slightly resembling crustaceans and worms, who drift in the flaming seas, feeding on fire itself. They may not have any notorious powers, yet graybeards believe they are the base upon which the entire ecosystem of the Crematorium is built. Weird anemone-like creatures and schools of colourful fish feed on this plankton, while larger creatures prey on them in turn.
Food crops of the efreet
Flame clove, crimson rye, habbat grain, qamh grass, verdobba tubers and umbellin beans are all plants that are grown by efreet in their Obsidian Fields. All of these crops are totally inedible for most humanoids (apart from tieflings) in their raw form—not only they are incredibly hot, but they are also full of toxins and acids. Flame cloves are the least offensive of all, although they contain high levels of sulfur, but thorough boiling in saltwater removes most harmful substances. What is left can be made into a very spicy, garlic-smelling paste, that somehow remains warm for up to four days. Habbat grain is widely used by all major races as a staple food. Fire genasi can eat it, even though many other fire foods are off limits for them. Efreeti bake bread from habbat grain or make it into porridge. The same can be said about crimson rye, although it is less popular with efreeti, who consider it to be the food of peasants and slaves. Qamh is a spice that is popular in Crematorium cuisine, but non-fire races use it instead as incense—it smells rather like a campfire. Verdobba tubers and umbellin beans are also staple foods which are made into various dishes, but they are of little use for planewalkers on account of their hefty concentrations of cyanide.
Many of these plants (except crimson rye and habbat grain, who prefer solid land, where they can disperse their seeds with the wind) actually grow below the fiery sea, since there’s not much difference between liquid and gaseous fire for them. They bear only a passing resemblance to the Prime plants they may be named after.
Sources: Dragon Magazine #357 p56; Inner Planes [2e]
Flame Roper
What is really important to know about fiery pandanus, are their dangerous mimics, the flame ropers. Ropers are beasts of the Prime, but like many others they can become animentals. Efreeti have found animental ropers to be convenient guard dogs—and they’ve magically altered them so that the things can propagate and are more susceptible to training. But there was one more important alteration they made—since there are no stalagmites in the Plane of Fire, flame ropers instead mimic the trunks of fiery pandanus trees. In other aspects they are still the same immobile one-eyed things with sticky tentacles. Fortunately for everyone, the piercer stage of flame ropers’ life cycle is unable to hunt and depends on efreet owners feeding and raising them. Thus, flame ropers have no hope of leaving their masters’ gardens any time soon.
Source: Tales of the Outer Planes [1e] p32
Flame Rot
Tell me cutter, can fire rot? On the surface, you’d think the answer is “no”. Yet in the Plane of Fire many things are possible. Certain species of microbes can tap into the ambient magic of the Multiverse—and quench the flames around them. There are many kinds of flame rot—some harmless, some can infect creatures of Elemental Fire with frightening results, and some are used by them to create fermented foods (imagine ice cream that is also beer). Fire elementals (and especially weirds and grues) try to exterminate flame rot, fearing that it could potentially envelop and extinguish the entire Plane. Fortunately for them, flame rot can only live in presence of certain nutrients. Most forms of flame rot die when their magic is dispelled, although some have evolved to become resistant to magic.
Lambent Firegrass and Lambent Flame
Lambent flame is one of the most common strains of flame rot. These bacteria grow where molten pockets of Salt enrich the area with potash. When spores of lambent flame bacteria reach a suitable place, they quickly reproduce and surround themselves with an area of magical cold. It is pleasantly cool for non-natives, but dangerous for elementals. Since the bacteria produce a lot of potash as a byproduct of their growth, lambent flames have a distinctive purple-pink colour. Lambent firegrass is a strange plant-like life form that grows in and feeds on lambent flames. It is in turn eaten by other herbivorous fire creatures, who also disperse its heat-resistant seeds.
Source: Dragon Magazine #347 p49-50; Manual of the Planes [5e] p162; but with heavy modification
Red Gum
A majestic, and gigantic tree that only grows under certain conditions—the graybeards aren’t even sure what precisely these conditions are. Red gum trees are extremely rare however, and jealously guarded by firetails and ruvoka (who, in turn, often enlist mercenaries and phoelarchs). Protecting these trees is important, as many conquerors of the plane would like to get their grabby paws on their gum and leaves. See, red gum is an expensive commodity that can be used in many ways—as a spell component for fire-based spells, a fining agent for flamewine, an additive to cosmetics and more. Meanwhile, from the glittering leaves an aromatic oil can be distilled. This oil is safe for consumption—in fact, consuming a dose of oil made from ten leaves has the effect of the lesser restoration spell cast upon the creature. Members of the ruvoka Kaltori tribe may be willing to spare some leaves or gum (assuming the tree won’t be harmed by harvesting it) in exchange for service or valuable items.
Salamander Orchid
So named due to their apparent resemblance to salamanders’ scales, these flowers are notoriously rare, since they require molten copper, gold and other metals to grow. They also need very high temperatures to survive, so they can’t be found in the Plane of Magma despite it having the requisite molten metals. Salamander orchids have beautiful metallic leaves and even more beautiful flowers, whose petals shift like tongues of flame. It’s been observed that these flowers arouse great interest in fire elementals. Graybeards speculate that salamander orchids use fire elementals to spread their pollen to propagate, like Prime flowers use insects. There’s a fair bit of magical power in those flowers too, and harnessing this magic can apparently be useful in creating magical items.
Source: Dragon Magazine #357 p54
Tergamit Fruits
Are well-known even in Sigil, let alone the Inner Planes. Tergamit fruit isn’t poisonous (though some claim it can cause cancer over many years of exposure), in fact it has a pleasant oily taste. However, the tergamit fruit is constantly surrounded by an aura of fire, even when taken away from the plane it’s native to. They can only be eaten by mortals when extinguished—but this must be done quickly, or else the fruits spoil after only a few minutes. Tergamit itself is a small bush, that produces only one fruit each year—not unlike what Primes call a pineapple.
Source: The Inner Planes [2e]; Faction War [2e] (called ‘fire fruit’)
See Also: Bestiary of Fire
Sources: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt. Anything without a listed source is a homebrew addition.