Korkokehys

Korkokehys is a fictional genus of flowering plants described in collaborative worldbuilding and speculative botany materials. In these sources the genus comprises two described species, korkokehys alba and korkokehys viridiflora, and is placed within a notional family known as Xylopyraceae.

The name korkokehys is presented as derived from elements in an imagined language associated with the Mantaran archipelago, where the plants are said to originate. This etymology is noted in worldbuilding references rather than in formal taxonomy.

The plants are described as hemiparasitic shrubs or scrambling climbers that reach between 0.5 and 2 meters in height. They have slender, wiry stems, small opposite leaves with a leathery texture, and modest inflorescences. The flowers are inconspicuous, often pale in korkokehys alba and greenish to purplish in korkokehys viridiflora, and are pollinated by small native bees in the fiction’s cloud forests.

Distribution and habitat are given as the temperate cloud forests of the northern Mantaran islands, at elevations roughly 900 to 1800 meters. Korkokehys plants are described as relying partly on their hosts for water and nutrients, while performing a degree of photosynthesis themselves. Seed dispersal is attributed to ground-dwelling mammals and gravity, with germination favored by fall rains.

In cultural contexts within the fictional universe, korkokehys is noted for minor medicinal uses and occasional ornamental value due to its delicate floral clusters. Conservation status is not standardized across sources, but habitat loss in the imagined setting is cited as a potential threat.

References to korkokehys appear in fictional flora compendia and worldbuilding anthologies.