"Ha! That rumor still floats about. The truth of the matter is a bit mundane. The standing dead are not trees but the remaining stalks of the bloom of a cactus. The cactus is similar to agave, but is mostly subterranean and puts up a bloom stalk only once during the rainy season. The cactus prevents the growth of other plants near it."
"These hollows are more common further south in the drier sands. There is a real danger, though. The bloom comes out at night and smells like rotting meat. It attracts carnivorous animals to it, mostly jackals. The seed pods are like large darts that are fired from the stalk into the attracted animals. They are toxic. Most animals die where they stand to fertilize the ground around the cactus. The ones that run off spread the cactus to new areas. when the cactus is not in bloom, it can be rooted out and destroyed."
"The second danger is that these hollows are used as sacrificial areas by the more superstitious indigenous clans. The most superstitious are, of course, the cannibals and head hunters. So be wary if you go to investigate as this particular hollow sounds to be an active site."
