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Plant

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This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

For the article on farming plants, see Farming. For the article on crops, see Crops.
Plant sprites preview.png

A plant is a regrowing natural resource. In Dwarf Fortress, they can be separated into four categories, all of which have different properties and uses. In the context of the game, they also include fungi (such as plump helmets or fungiwood) and certain things not made of plant matter (such as staring eyeballs and wormy tendrils), all of which are functionally identical to plants.

Major types of plants[edit]

  • Crop - Crops, including garden plants which can be bought at embark, can be planted from seeds and grown in farms. There are above-ground as well as subterranean crops, both of which need soil or muddied rock to grow.
  • Shrub - Shrubs cannot be planted, and must be gathered from naturally-growing specimens.
  • Tree - Trees are not (currently) farmable, and grow on multiple z-levels, providing wood and possibly fruit.
  • Grass - Grasses form the natural groundcover of soil and muddied rock, and are necessary to feed grazing animals.

Plant growth[edit]

Plants may have multiple different types of growths. Each growth can have different properties in terms of usages and edibility. In general, only plant growths which are usable in some fashion will be collected and stockpiled by dwarves.

Bulb/Flower/Leaf[edit]

Neither bulbs, flowers, or leaves contain seeds. Currently, only date palm trees produce flowers that are usable in-game, and most usable leaves are edible.

In-game, the category "leaves" in the stocks screen includes most non-seed plant growths (leaves, fruit, flowers, etc.)

An example of a common plant with useful leaves is the quarry bush, which, when cooked, can produce large stacks of prepared food.

As most species of trees grow, they will produce leaves as a growth. Although these leaves will drop to the floor during the autumn seasons, they currently cannot be collected and have no use other than for atmospheric effect. Also, tree leaves cannot be cut away, and they only disappear during the winter season, or if the tree is chopped down.

Leaves growing on an apricot tree

Nut[edit]

A nut is a tree seed growth, usually edible.

Pod/Fruit[edit]

Pods and fruits are plant growths containing seeds. In comparison to fruit, pods are thin structures, usually not edible. In comparison to pods, fruits are larger structures, usually edible. Fruit may be produced by both crops and trees. Supposedly, fruit dropping naturally from trees lays on the ground indefinitely.

Collection[edit]

In Fortress mode, fruit can be picked, on the surface, by setting up a gathering zone (i then g). If there are any trees in the zone, a dwarf will pick up a stepladder or climb the tree and drop the fruit to the ground, where they or some other food hauler will pick it up. Alternatively, if fruit has fallen on a shrub, gathering that shrub will gather the fruit on it as well. On the stocks screen, fruit such as apples is in the Leaves category.

Some examples:

"Plant" in other Languages Books-aj.svg aj ashton 01.svg
Dwarven: erok
Elven: mana
Goblin: tusnas
Human: ona
More: GemsMetalsStones
Creature
BloodBoneCartilageCheeseChitinEggFatFeatherHair (WoolYarn) • HoofHornIchorLeatherMilkMeatNailNervous tissueOrgansParchmentPearlScaleShellSilkSkinSpitSweatTallowTearsTeethWax
Plant
Fiber (PaperSlurry) • FlowerFruitLeafOil • Plant powders (DyeFlourSugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant
Inorganic
Hardcoded
AmberAshCoralFilthFuelGlassGrimeIceLyeMagmaMudPearlashPotashSaltUnknown substanceVomitWater
See also: Material science
Surface
Crops
Garden
Other
Subterranean
Surface
AbacaAcaciaAlderAlmondAppleApricotAshAvocadoBananaBayberryBirchBitter orangeCacao treeCandlenutCarambolaCashewCedarCherryChestnutCitronCoconut palmCoffeeCustard-appleDate palmDesert limeDurianFeather treeFinger limeGinkgoGlumprongGuavaHazelHighwoodKapokKumquatLarchLimeLycheeMacadamiaMahoganyMango treeMangroveMapleOakOliveOrangePapayaParadise nutPeachPearPecanPersimmonPinePlumPomegranatePomeloRambutanRound limeRubber treeSaguaroSand pearTeaWalnutWillow
Subterranean
Surface
Subterranean