Slashberry

Slashberry is a cane‑forming plant noted growing in the Cloister garden at the heart of a math. Its canes can arch across paths; they bear tiny flowers and have thorns, though short sections may be thornless.

First noted

Slashberry comes to attention when Fraa Erasmas remarks that it is not listed among the One Hundred and Sixty‑four plants permitted for cultivation by the Second New Revised Book of Discipline. In the same exchange, a companion observes that while it is not one of the permitted plantings, it is also not among the Eleven that must be burned on sight and recorded in the Chronicle.

Status and handling

Within the Cloister herb beds it is treated as a weed rather than a crop. Uprooted canes are gathered with other weeds during routine garden work and penances. The discussion around it illustrates how cultivation is bounded by the community’s Discipline (see Cartasian Discipline).

Characteristics

• Cane‑forming growth habit, capable of arching across paths
• Small flowers on the cane tips
• Thorns present, with occasional short thornless stretches