Harrowroot resembles a narrow, elderly treant spirit assembled from a lightning-split ash tree, a humanlike skeleton of roots, and drifting curtains of translucent leaves. Its bark is rough enough to catch cloth, yet small patches feel warm and smooth like a sleeping animal. One arm ends in a five-fingered branch, while the other remains a delicate cluster of rootlets that constantly combs through the soil. Pale mushrooms grow along its ribs and open whenever it becomes angry. It moves with a slow, creaking sway until something threatens the clearing, at which point it crosses the ground in sudden, insectlike jerks. The contradictory impression is unmistakable: it looks ancient and monstrous, but it carefully shelters tiny moths beneath its bark and blushes green when praised.