Virlef
The Virlef is a plant with shallow roots. The roots are mainly there to prevent the plant from blowing away. It is also a storage of energy for the blossoming of the Virlef flower, a purple bundle of smaller flowers for the female kind and tiny blue flowers for the male kind.
The lowest leaves are large and tough. They form a basin for rainwater and dew. In the leaves is a poison that comes free with the water. The mixture is a liquid that can kill small animals (insects) and makes larger ones (birds) unconscious. Humans can get serious ill when drinking this liquid. However, many living beings in the desert come to the Virlef because it usually contains the only liquid in stonds around.
The top-leaves of the plant function as a parasol. They prevent the water in the basins from vaporising, and provide shadow so dew can form at dawn.
The basins can reach a diameter of 4 feet. The plant grows normally 2 feet high. A lot of Virlefs together might form a kind of oasis.
Virlef-parasites
Providing water in the desert, the Virlef is loved by some other plants, who grow around its basins. These are the so-called Virlef-parasites. There are five known varieties of these parasites, all immune for the poison. Three of them contain a counter-poison, that can be used to cure the illness or unconsciousness caused by the Virlef.
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