"In this bottle," he said, "there is a cordial made of the juice of the fire-flowers that grow in the mountains of the sun." LWW chapter 10.

Well, that answers your second question: they're from the mountains of the sun.
I always thought the fire-flowers were just that, flowers. There must be something about Narnia's sun and the plants that grow there, because in VDT the birds from the sun bring Ramandu a fire-berry from the valleys of the sun every morning.

I've always wondered if the "mountains of the sun" were somewhere near where Digory and Polly went to get the apple in MN.....

^^cool idea...

dotK is right. They're just flowers, but something about the sun there is special.

I've always wondered if the "mountains of the sun" were somewhere near where Digory and Polly went to get the apple in MN.....

Fascinating thought, but I don't think so. The birds in VDT come from the East; the garden is in the West. I think the "mountains of the sun" are mountains of the sun. Since the Narnian sun apparently has valleys and mountains, I would think it is a planet of sorts. I think in mythology the sun is not considered to be a star, which explains how the Narnian sun can be sort of a planet while the stars can be sort of like humans.

^^do you just sit down and study the books or something ? You're awfully well knowledged in Narnia-related...things... . So I guess you're right, even though it would be cool if it were true...

do you just sit down and study the books or something ?

No, I've just read all of the books ten thousand million times.

^^I've read them about ten

^^ I have read the books about 10 thousand times and still have no answer for the question that i being asked in this thread.....yet. I will keep trying......

Thanks for all your input! I went back and reread LWW and found that. But what really makes the plant so powerful? Because the flowers can heal any injury and the berries can make you young again. I wonder if the root or leaves can do anything...

^^cool idea. they probably could, if the petals are so powerful. maybe they can turn you in to a vampire, the kind that sparkles, not explodes, in the sunlight *that would be soooo cool*

I wonder if the fire berries- and possibly the fire flowers as well- taste spicy. And to what degree- jalapeno or habanero or somewhere in between. I can imagine that both the fire berries and flowers are a red-orange color- probably closer to that of a red pepper than to the orange-yellow sodium flame you usually see bonfires have.

All this talk about the sun and the stars makes me think of what Eustace says in VDT. I don’t remember the quote exactly, but he basically says that stars are simply balls of hot gas and someone else (I can’t remember who) tells him that is what they are made of, that’s not what they are. This makes me wonder what the Narnian Sun is. It doesn’t seem to be a person like the other stars, so maybe it is a different world altogether, like Narnia is different from Earth.

Well, all things solar (in the Narnian world at least) have magical properties. The fireflowers have the ability to heal any injury, and the birds (in VODT) bring a fire berrie, that can reverse the aging process. It seems as if the Narnian sun, as well as being more of a planet than a star, has close ties with health and vitality, which really goes to illustrate the quiet lull, that would have been experienced in the clouded days of winter during the reign of the White Witch.

We must also realise that if the Narnian sun is a star, that we cannot consider it as we consider a star in our world. Clearly. . . they're not the same thing.

I can imagine that both the fire berries and flowers are a red-orange color- probably closer to that of a red pepper than to the orange-yellow sodium flame you usually see bonfires have.

Lucy........saw one bird fly to the Old Man with something in its beak that looked like a little fruit, unless it was a little live coal, which it might have been, for it was too bright to look at VDT The Beginning of the End of the World
So, what does a hot coal look like?

It seems as if the Narnian sun, as well as being more of a planet than a star, has close ties with health and vitality, which really goes to illustrate the quiet lull, that would have been experienced in the clouded days of winter during the reign of the White Witch.

I hadn't thought of that before, but it makes sense.

It doesn’t seem to be a person like the other stars, so maybe it is a different world altogether, like Narnia is different from Earth.

I've been wondering that. At any rate, I don't think the Narnian sun is counted as a star either.