LeafWings are one of the three tribes (alongside SilkWings and HiveWings) that inhabited the continent of Pantala before they supposedly became extinct during the Tree Wars with the HiveWings. They have green and brown scales, with some accent colors such as gold or red, and wings shaped like leaves. LeafWings are able to absorb sunlight, and most were accomplished gardeners. Some were rumored to even have a strange control over plants, and these rumors appear to be true, as displayed by Sundew in The Lost Continent, and by Mandrake and Hawthorn in The Poison Jungle. This unusual control over plants is known as leafspeak.
In The Lost Continent, LeafWings are thought to be extinct, with propaganda posters painting them as the enemy. In fact, they are so antagonized that all trees have been removed from the areas of Pantala that the HiveWings control, as the LeafWings lived in forests.
In The Hive Queen, Sundew reveals that the LeafWings had been planning to restart the Tree Wars and the rest of the LeafWings live in the Poison Jungle.
After the events of the Tree Wars, the tribe divided, half staying loyal to Queen Sequoia and wanting to isolate themselves until Wasp's death, half uniting under Sundew's Grandmother and swearing revenge against the HiveWing for killing their trees. Each splinter faction claims to be the "real LeafWings", calling the others a separate tribe. The violent LeafWings were dubbed "PoisonWings" by the isolationists for being needlessly violent and naming their own after dangerous plants, while the activists called the isolationists "SapWings" for being soft and spineless. The two factions bear animosity against each other for their methods and ideas, but Sequoia and Commander Belladonna do meet occasionally.
Description
LeafWings have green and brown scales on their bodies, along with leaf-like patterns. They appear to have webbed spines, along their neck and back, similar to a SeaWing's. The webbing along their back splits into individual pieces near the base of the tail, which are shaped like leaves. Their snout is slightly curved, similar to a SkyWing's, with a raised ridge on the tip of their snout.
They also have a flat tail, ending in a leaf shape. Their wings are also leaf-like, and slightly transparent, with leaf veins in the webbing and their wings in the form of branches, complementing their name. The edges of their wings are rounded, giving it a very leaf-like look. Their horns appear to be skinny and flat-ended, almost like leaves. The scales atop their eyes go over the top of their horns, giving it a partially plated look.
Their scales are uneven, vaguely resembling chloroplasts and plant cells. They have a plated underbelly and a slender body shape. Their legs seem to be slightly short and thin. Their eyes can be orange-gold, blue, green, brown, or purple.
Abilities
LeafWings are able to absorb sunlight in a process called photosynthesis, just like plants. They are said to have been accomplished gardeners, and it is rumored some had unusual control over plants (leafspeak). They also used certain plants and arthropods as weapons against other dragons, such as bullet ants or poisonous centipedes. It has been shown that some can understand the language of plants, and convince them to grow at an accelerated rate. This trait, Leafspeak, is genetic, as shown by Sundew being the careful product of dragons with Leafspeak selectively breeding. Sundew also stated that she can make most plants grow faster, "at the 'speed of an erupting volcano', but can't make them appear out of thin air"(citation needed).
Names
LeafWings are named after different types of trees that are found in forests and woods. PoisonWing names are based on poisonous plants, though some are named after carnivorous plants, or plants poisonous to smaller animals. SapWing names are based on trees, as mentioned by Willow.
Known LeafWings
PoisonWings
- Belladonna
- Bryony
- Byblis
- Cobra Lily
- Hemlock
- Mandrake
- Nettle
- Odollam
- Pokeweed
- Sundew
- Sundew's Grandmother (deceased)
- Wolfsbane
SapWings
- Queen Hazel
- Queen Sequoia
- Willow
- Willow's Father
- Hawthorn (exiled, deceased)
Other
- Maple (historical, deceased)
Trivia
- LeafWings are the only Pantalan tribe to have one pair of wings.
- In A Guide to the Dragons of Pantala, LeafWings and SilkWings are depicted as having their wings stretched out back from their shoulders. This would be a very uncomfortable position to maintain when moving around on the ground, so it's plausible that these two tribes either fold their wings across their backs or hang them to the side like the Pyrrhian Dragons do. LeafWings are definitely capable of this as their wing structure, though shaped differently, is illustrated by Joy Ang as being similar to the bat-like structure of Pyrrhian Dragon wings. They are also several instances in the Third Arc where they are described folding their wings.
- LeafWings were initially thought to be the first extinct tribe in the series, (as they were mentioned before the BeetleWings) although it was later revealed they actually are not extinct and were hiding in the Poison jungle.
- Tui confirmed that when Clearsight first got to Pantala, LeafWings were the dominant tribe on the continent.
- A few years before The Lost Continent was announced, rumors went around that there was a "GrassWings" tribe on the second continent. This rumor might have been partially true with the introduction of LeafWings.
- Tui confirmed that she had created the LeafWings by expanding on the idea of GrassWings.
- LeafWings are the second tribe of dragon shown to use blow darts, the first being the RainWings.
- Sundew was shown to eat meat in The Hive Queen, which leads to the current conclusion that LeafWings are most likely omnivorous since Sundew was also shown to eat berries.
- In The Poison Jungle, it is revealed that panthers are included in LeafWing diets[3], as well as mangoes, making them omnivores.
- In The Poison Jungle, it is revealed that the LeafWings have tribe feasts[2].
- In The Poison Jungle, it is revealed LeafWings know what scavengers are, as Sundew referred to them as such instead of reading monkeys.
- LeafWings are similar to RainWings, as being able to absorb energy from the sun.
- It's possible that LeafWings can have autumn colors (such as gold, red, orange, etc), as Sundew does have some gold scales.
- Bryony is the first LeafWing PoV, Sundew being the first to receive a book and second overall.
- As they and BeetleWings originally arrived from the Distant Kingdoms, all dragons are ancestrally from Pyrrhia.
- After the LeafWings hid in the Poison Jungle, they were split up into two sub-tribes, known as the SapWings and the PoisonWings.
- The SapWings were led by Queen Sequoia, who survived the Tree Wars, while the PoisonWings were led by Belladonna, Sundew's mother.
- The SapWings named their dragonets after trees(Hazel, Willow, etc.) like the LeafWings did before they were separated, while the PoisonWings named their dragonets after dangerous plants in the Poison Jungle (Sundew, presumably Belladonna, etc.).
- There are more confirmed female LeafWings (10 individuals) than male LeafWings (7 individuals).
Gallery
Click here to see the gallery.
References
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-poison-jungle-wings-of-fire-book-13
2. "Not at all terrifying to Sundew, who was in charge of hunting their prey for every big tribe feast." - The Poison Jungle
3. "'Can't I please just kill it?' yelled the third dragon. 'We could be home and cooking it by now! This panther will die of old age before Mandrake finds the perfect vine in the perfect place and figures out what to do with it!" -The Poison Jungle