Ghost Blossom Tree
Description: Ghost Blossoms are medium-sized fruiting trees that resemble a wild apple. Their blossoms are pale gray while their fruit are bone-white and nearly spherical. The trees are steeped in magical energies related to death, undeath, and those parts of the spirit world that are related to the afterlife. They are most commonly found growing in places with similar mystic connections such as graveyards, battlefields, mortuaries, and sites used for ritual sacrifice. They rely on ghosts, phantoms, and similar lingering spirits to pollinate their flowers, which exude a strong scent that mortal creatures can't detect at all. Material undead are drawn to their fruit, particularly ghouls and ghasts who serve to spread ghost blossom seeds far and wide.
Most settlements will try to weed out and destroy ghost blossom trees since they attract otherworldly and often dangerous creatures, but the trees do have some uses and it's not uncommon to find a village that cultivates one or two in their cemetery for the local wise folk. They are more common in the wild and stumbling on a thriving grove of the things is correctly seen as a sign of ill omen. Young saplings aren't particularly difficult to destroy but older trees (from about 10' to their maximum size of roughly 30') are supernaturally durable. Mundane weapons and fire scarcely mark them, their roots run into the spirit realms making them very hard to uproot, and while their flowers and fruit can be plucked their leaves are as hard for a mortal to grasp as a wisp of fog.
Uses: Ghost blossom fruit is sour but edible and in fact quite nourishing, although few mundane folk will voluntarily eat them out of superstitious distaste. Their juice can be fermented to make a bitter alcoholic cider that lets the drinker perceive spirits and other unseen entities, but only while decidedly tipsy. Rumors abound of a ghost blossom preserve that will make anyone who eats it attract hungry undead like a magnet, although tracking down someone who'll admit to knowing the recipe may be difficult.
Fresh blossoms can be ground and refined to create powders that can attract friendly spirits, soothe angry ones, or (with suitable additional components) affect immaterial creatures like pepper spray.
Shed limbs and dried leaves from witch blossom trees will burn but only slowly and stubbornly. The smoke from such a fire is said to expand the senses beyond the mundane world and aid in the practice of ritual magic. Their wood may also be efficacious for crafting various magical items, especially those with functions involving death, necromancy, and spirits.
Complications: The trees grow well only near areas touched by death and the spirit world, making them a warning sign of potential danger. Over time a healthy stand of ghost blossoms will attract spirits and both corporeal and immaterial undead, which is generally dangerous for mortal creatures living nearby. Many of the things that can be made using the trees' fruit, flowers, leaves and wood have strong side-effects involving altered perceptions and states of consciousness which can make it difficult to deal with mundane threats.
Design Commentary: This was another idea I meant to get up back around Halloween, but it took till now to finish up. It's more of a world-building feature than something that would take the forefront in a story, but introducing their details in bits and pieces over time should help make your world feel more "real" - even though these are trees that are pollinated by ghosts rather than bees.
If you wind up using undead ghost bees in your game please don't blame me for them. :)
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