Vooludele

Vooludele is a fictional plant species described in the Nalara archipelago setting of speculative fiction and tabletop role-playing games. It is notable for its bioluminescent leaves and sweet fruits that ripen at the start of the rainy season. The name vooludele is drawn from the local Nalari terms vooru (light) and dele (leaf).

Morphologically, vooludele is a treelet or large shrub reaching up to five meters. Leaves are broad, glossy, with veins that glow a pale blue at night. Inflorescences appear as clusters of small, scented flowers that bloom at dusk, followed by spherical berries about one to two centimeters in diameter.

Vooludele typically grows in shaded terraces and forest margins within misty valleys of Nalara. It forms clonal colonies via rhizomes and is adapted to high humidity and intermittent ground-fog. Pollination is primarily by nocturnal moths; seed dispersal often involves fruit bats and canopy-dwelling birds.

In cultures within the setting, the fruit is eaten fresh or used to flavor ceremonial dishes; leaves are used in traditional medicine and as a dye source. Scientific lore within the fiction attributes its luminescence to a family of photoproteins analogous to green fluorescent protein, though this remains speculative within the narrative.

Vooludele has no standing scientific taxonomy in the real world but is used as a recurring element in Nalara-related media. In fan materials, it is often depicted as a keystone species for rainforest ecology and a symbol of nocturnal abundance.