Spock carefully dug up a Shin-Ka-Ti plant
The Shin-Ka-Ti was a species of plant lifeform native to the planet Vulcan.
History and specifics[]
The plant was known to grow only in Vulcan’s out-region Kendha-Ya, the Dead Ocean. The plant produced one large flower about eight inches tall with three petals. It grew on one long stem about an inch thick, with a few small leaves growing out from the stem.
In the late 21st century, nectar from the flower provided a cure to Vulcan’s Red Plague, and as a result the plant was also known as the Flower of Mercy.
Captain Spock traveled to the Kendha-Ya region in 2279 to retrieve a Shin-Ka-Ti plant, in order to provide a cure for Leonard McCoy, who had become infected by an outbreak of the plague on Circe II. Spock was uncertain whether the plant still grew on Vulcan. When he found one, he very carefully removed it, using a hand phaser to disrupt the dirt without harming the roots of the plant. (TOS comic: "Terminally Yours")