The Torch Tree is a medium sized tree with sparse canopy that was engineered from Old Earth Laurels.. The leaves are small and shiny, and the peels from the trunk.

Tree.

Leaves are green and bark is grey.

Between twelve and fifteen feet tall.

Flammable sap.

The sap from the tree contain several flammable oils. The tribes of the Spread put splash marks in the tree and collect the nodules of the dried sap that form there.

They boil the hardened sap in water until the oils float to surface and are poured off. It is run through a filter and stored in earthen containers. Plant fibers are soaked with the oil and used as torches.

In the Southern Reaches the trees are grown in farm and the sap is collected with metal taps that inserted into the trees trunk.

After wild fires torch trees will continue to burn and smolder for days or weeks due to the flammable oils in the wood.