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Shrub
This article was migrated from DF2014:Shrub and may be inaccurate for the current version of DF (v50.14). See this page for more information. |
v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF.Note that some content may still need to be updated. |
A shrub is a small plant that grows naturally, as opposed to a domesticated farm crop. They can be found all over the world in grassy areas, savannas, forests, and deserts. They will also sprout on soil and muddy stone underground if a cavern has been breached. Shrubs are instrumental for plant gathering, and in environments with a significant amount of vegetation, they can be an excellent supply of food. Gathering shrubs also serves to provide a supply of seeds for use in planting surface crops, such as longland grass and strawberries.
Harvesting
Shrubs can be collected by dwarves with the plant gathering labor enabled in order to produce plant items. Early on, shrubs are an important source of seeds for growing an above ground farm plot. Harvesting subterranean shrubs grown on a smoothed floor will make the floor rough.[Verify]
To collect plants, find green, healthy bushes – "
– rather than the dead or dried-up brown ones – "
– and set plant gathering orders. Dwarves with the herbalism labor enabled and little else to do will rush out and start trying to gather plants. Skill is checked for every shrub, similar to a quality check; proficient (or higher) herbalists without skill penalties always harvest at least one plant per bush, but the yield is generally lower than from a farm. There is usually plenty of available vegetation however, so designate a wide area and leave them to it.
It is also possible to designate a zone for plant gathering. The herbalist will be triggered every season to gather plants in the designated zone.
Most plants collected from bushes can be brewed or cooked, and some can be used as dyes. Brewing or eating (but not cooking) plants will produce seeds, which can then be planted on outdoor farms. A stockpile should be created for storing the collected plants, or they will just be left outside to shrivel up in the sun. A general food stockpile will do, but a custom stockpile for specific plants will prevent the stockpile filling up with other junk.
Extra information
A shrub is a type of map tile, similar to trees and walls in that they are a tiletype that can be designated for action, such as to be dug out or removed. They only occur naturally but tend to grow up very frequently during the year. All shrubs are clearly identifiable upon examination.
Underground shrubs, unlike those found on the surface, appear as color-coded colons rather than green quotation marks – :
for plump helmets, :
for sweet pods, :
for cave wheat, :
for dimple cups, and :
for pig tails or quarry bushes.