Nirnroot Missive Content . This brings me to my next subject , the glowing root known as Nirnroot . Although the oddly tenacious root grows almost anywhere a significant body of water is present , this root is extremely rare , and I believe soon to become extinct . I myself have yet to come across one of the gnarled shoots , as they ' re rarely in sight of the roads that cross Cyrodiil . According to the records of the noted Imperial Herbalist Chivius Regelliam , the Nirnroot once flourished and could be found all over the country , but he suspected a cataclysmic event severely stunted their growth . Although many scholars reject the proposal that the Sun ' s Death event of 1E 668 catastrophically affected plant life , Chivius feels that the Nirnroot ' s lineage was damaged by the lack of sun for a full year . Whereas other plant species tend to " find a way , " the Nirnroot ' s mysterious magical nature made it especially susceptible to this climate shift . While this may or may not be the case , it ' s certainly true that the recorded sightings of Nirnroot are declining as the years pass . The most perplexing facet of Chivius ' s studies is that his notes describe the root as having a yellowish glow . Contrary to this fact , the Nirnroot of today has a soft bluish or blue - white glow . Unfortunately , since not many studies of the Nirnroot were performed from Chivius ' s day until now , it ' s unknown when or why this occurred . What I ' m proposing today is that the Nirnroot , even though merely a plant , sensed impending extinction and therefore changed its own nature to survive . One of the more obvious facets of today ' s Nirnroot that supports this theory is the fact that it can now survive underground without any sunlight at all . While it ' s true that generally only mosses and fungi grow in these environments , I have two signed depositions by persons claiming that they sighted the Nirnroot in deep caves . Not once in Chivius ' s copious notes is a subterranean Nirnroot mentioned . But how could this be ? How could a surface dwelling plant suddenly begin appearing in new locations radically different from its normal habitat ? The answer , my fellow alchemists , is nestled within Chivius ' s own notes . Although he spends a great deal of time with the Nirnroot in his laboratory , the one thing he neglected to test at a high enough level of detail was the soil . As stated previously , Chivius felt that the Sun ' s Death , the eruption of Red Mountain , contributed to the demise of the Nirnroot . Agreed . My amendment to that proposal is that the ash that fell from the sky that entire year mixed with the soil , and again , due to the magical nature of the root , contributed to the aforementioned changes . The ash became a catalyst of sorts , forcing a change in the very makeup of the Nirnroot . Although very little ash from that dark time remains , I have done tests on newer ash samples sent to me from Vvardenfell . They show little to no magical properties , certainly none of which could affect a plant to that magnitude . However , the rare occurrence of what ' s known as Ash Salt in the normal ash does contain very potent magical abilities . In fact , some native Dunmer are said to harness that ability to create a cure for the Blight , which pervaded their realm many years ago . I feel this magic , meshed with the Nirnroot ' s inherent magic caused the radical change . . . in essence ; the root " healed itself . " To surmise , my two proposals are certainly linked . The plant needed to survive , and therefore used a byproduct of its destructor to do so . No other plant in nature has ever come close to this metamorphosis . I feel the Nirnroot has accomplished in a relatively short amount of time what it would take other species millions of years to complete . Whatever the case may be , one thing is certain ; the Nirnroot is on a path to destruction . It contains untapped potential to create potions the likes of which have never been seen in our day . I propose to you today that we divert a small portion of our funds to an expedition to collect some of these roots to study . I have outlined this proposal for your perusal after this section of the Symposium . Please , seriously consider this proposal before it becomes too late , and the Nirnroot becomes nothing but a memory . Thank you for your time .