Whats the brown on Gnar?!?

Been doodling a lot recently. I've also recently got a Wacom Tablet so been practicing on that. Been recently drawing a bunch of Gnar stuff, but theres one part about him that I'm unfamiliar with. I've seen all different kinds of Gnar fan art and there's always a split. Is the brown stuff around Gnar's upper chest/neck brown fur or a bunch of leaves/vegetation? With all the art I see, its either one or the other. The texturing on the 3D model kind of looks like fur, but I'm not too sure... I'd like to know what it really is.

Riot or anyone who knows... halp?