General
Longjing are powerful users of life magic, which they use to lovingly nurture their favorite plants. They have a strange power that allows them to always have their favorite plants with them, which is the ability to miniaturize an area of vegetation and grow it on their backs. They themselves seem to be made of living wood, and as their scales shed, they decompose into rich soil and mulch to feed the plants they carry. The ground from which they miniaturize the trees and plants is left suddenly bare, ready for new growth to take advantage, though sometimes the longjing will change its mind and expand and replant some of what it’s carrying. Fortunately for farmers and gardeners, they greatly prefer naturally occurring plants and trees, usually from deep in the forest, and so rarely disturb carefully tended gardens. For a bribe of bucketfuls of freshly brewed tea though, they will help magi terraform an area, using their powers to miniaturize plants as appropriate and transport them to a new home.
Egg
Oh my, there is a tiny tree growing out of this egg.
Hatchling
Longjing hatchlings have not yet fully realized their powers, and are only capable of miniaturizing small plants over a small area. However, they greatly enjoy practicing their magic, and hatchlings will play with each other by competing to see who can miniaturize the largest area with the biggest plants. Longjing hatchlings don’t require much tending, as they mainly eat soil, so magi raising one only need to provide their hatchling plenty of fresh water. However, longjing are very fond of tea, and magi who drink tea while raising one may well find their cup suddenly empty of beverage and full of small woody dragon instead.
Adult
Longjing are considered adults once they have miniaturized their first tree. Usually by this point their whiskers have grown impressively long and their wooden horns have several branch spokes. It is often hard to tell, looking at an adult longjing, where it ends and its miniaturized plants begin, and some magi speculate that for older ones, the distinction is no longer meaningful, as the oldest plants may well truly be part of the creature’s body. Longjing all carry a blue light in the curl of their tails, which they guard extremely carefully. It is thought that his is the source of their miniaturization powers, though no one has been able to study the light in order to confirm this.
Notes
Obtained from: Donation (Feb)
Breeding: Yes
Renaming cost: 2000 gold
Release date: February 15th 2024
Element: Life 
Breeds with the following:
Longjing + Longjing = Longjing (Guaranteed) Cost: 3 shards
February 2024 Midmonth Donation pet.
Sprite art: Mysfytt | Description: Kestrad