The Crystherium flower
The matriarch plant
The Crystherium Utilia is the name given to the flower strelitzia or the "bird of paradise flower" by the Scarrans. The flower is rare in the Uncharted Territories and considered a delicacy among the Scarran Empire. Consumption of the flower also has the effect of increasing the Scarrans' brain capacity, allowing their ruling class to meet the same intellectual level as other advanced sentient species such as humans and Sebaceans.
Crystherium can only be grown in certain conditions, forcing the Scarrans to cultivate them in a limited number of locations. Because of this handicap, the Scarrans can only expand their power from these few locations, one of which is the hidden base Katratzi. The flowers are heavily guarded as a loss of a crop can effectively cripple the Scarrans' ability to occupy and control entire regions of space. This occurred when the crew of Moya destroyed the Katratzi flower supply, setting the capability of the Scarrans to rule that region back by hundreds of cycles.
After the destruction of Katratzi, the Scarrans made for the wormhole that led to Earth, hoping to conquer the planet after John Crichton accidentally informed them of its sizable supply of the flower. Crichton, with the help of Aeryn and Pilot, managed to collapse the wormhole before the Scarrans could reach it, cutting off another potential Crystherium supply. ("Bad Timing")
Appearances
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- 3.11 "Incubator"
- 4.20 "We're So Screwed - Hot to Katratzi"
- 4.21 "We're So Screwed - La Bomba"
