Badass Bookworm
Greater Emerald Spine Tree
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To make a tree which is a staple on Tygara as well as providing a source of food, all inspired by a recent adventure of mine.
- Image Credit: Photo by me!
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Tygara , Vashyada , Qadiri, Khaimari , Lands and Features of Tygara,
- Name: Greater Emerald Spine Tree, known by many other names informally. To the people of the plains of Zhukathis and Khajwar it's simply known as the 'Spine Tree'. To soldiers on the march hoping to find one it's known as the 'Ration Tree'. To anyone who's been jabbed with its long spines it's known as the 'Dagger Tree'…amongst other unprintable curses!
- Origins: Tygara. Variants of it, including a lesser variant are found
- Other Locations: Some have been introduced to Arkas by accident where it has flourished to the point of being a pest.
- Classification: Tree.
- Average Growth Cycle: In ideal conditions the tree can grow quickly to a height of several metres and start flowering within 5 years. It can then grow and spread, eventually reaching its peak by about 20 years. The tree can last up to a century.
- Viability: The Spine Tree is not fussy about soil and can grow in most conditions, though it likes sandy soil more than thick clay. The Spine Tree is good at retaining water, so good in fact that too much can actually harm and eventually kill it! Therefore it doesn't do well in areas with monsoon conditions. In areas closer to the coast where rain is better in the wet season it can grow quicker and stronger.
- Description: The Spine Tree is not much to look at first glance. A mature tree resembles a dome of tangled branches, leaves, spines and flowers. The tree is often quite twisted and tangled, forming dense knotted barriers of branches around it. Every branch has spines along them, separated every few centimetres by leaves, flowers or fruits. These spines are sharp enough to piece skin and hide and are slightly jagged so can get stuck in the wound or even break off. If one pierces the outer dome the area around the trunk is often quite hidden and shaded, and it is here the fruits can be mainly found.
The Spine Tree's fruits are large and spiny, growing off the trunk's main limbs, though they can grow on the outside too. These fruits, up to 15cm in length, are slightly egg-shaped and are the main features of the plant, as they can be eaten by humanoids. In nature they are supposed to grow until ripe, drop to the ground and split open. At which time animals will eat the insides and the seeds and distribute them across the landscape. The Horned Ghoush has evolved to pierce the spiny dome and eat the fruits directly and thus distribute the seeds in their droppings. Each fruit contains up to two dozen seeds which are teardrop shaped and black when developed, green when unripe.
The flowers of the Spine Tree are a pleasant yellow colour with pink highlights on the stamen. These are pollinated by birds, insects, and even lizards evolved for the role. The yellow flowers are considered good luck tokens to many Qadiri, and many cities or nobles houses have them on their banners.
- Average Height: At full height can grow up to 5 metres tall, though on average hovers around 3 metres.
- Average Length: Usually grows into a tangled ball of leaves, branches and spikes, so is as wide as it is tall.
- Color: The leaves are a dark green, the trunk a deep grey or brown, and the flowers a pleasant yellowish-pink.
- Nutritional Value: The fruit of the Spine Tree is sometimes called a 'Rationfruit' because a single tree can feed a score of soldiers in the right circumstances. Even if not, a hungry soldier or traveller can take a fruit and if prepared can eat it soon after.
The fruit's leathery, spiked skin needs to be removed. Underneath is a whiteish solid flesh which can be eaten raw, though it rather bitter. It is best ground up or mashed and cooked, then served with bread and spices. The seeds are often taken and dried, then ground up or roasted and used as seasoning. These seeds are high in vitamins, proteins and especially a rare enzyme which helps safely mitigate Vitamin D toxicity – a common issue on the sunny plains of Tygara!
The rest of the tree is inedible to humanoids. For herbivores like the Ghoush however it is an integral part of their diet. - Toxicity: If ingested the sap of the Spine Tree can cause stomach cramps, nausea and even intestinal blockages. Eating an unripe fruit can cause stomach pains. The rest of the tree is not toxic, but also indigestible.
- Other Effects: The sap is extremely sticky, and when used fresh it can be an effective glue or used for sealing small wounds. The wood of the trunk is very hard, but due to its twisted nature cannot be used for construction or planks. However, it's colour and toughness makes it useful for crafting small objects from the wood like tokens.
- Distinctions: The Spine Tree is unusual in that the fruit it grows is large and edible to humanoids. The spikes of the tree branches are unusually long and sharp, allowing it to pierce cloth and skin easily. Fire can help spread the tree's seeds. The heat of the fire can crack open the fruit and eject the seeds. These seeds which are then quite resistant to fire can then grow in the newly burnt ground uncontested.
The Lesser Spine Tree is smaller and grows in the cooler plains of the south and in higher altitudes. Its fruit is smaller and less suitable for eating, requiring more extensive boiling.
- Easy to Grow. The Spine Tree grows easily with limited water and variable soil. It's a perfect plant for an orchard since it's hard to kill, requires relatively little care, and is quite well contained in its little dome.
- Staple Food. The Spine Tree produces fruits which can be eaten with relatively little preparation. It forms a staple food source for much of the Qadiri people on the main continent. Its reliable, predictable growth allows campaigns to even be planned around its fruiting cycle.
- Widespread. The Spine Tree grows in all the scrublands, savannah and sub-tropical grasslands of Zhukathis and Khajwar. It is so common that whole forests of it can be found near Edana and elsewhere.
- It's a Tree. The Spine Tree is an ordinary plant. It has no magical traits, and is not sentient or mobile in any way.
- Burns Easily. Especially older trees burn easily, and indeed sometimes relies on this to spread the seeds. As a consequence though, fire can consume a Spine Tree within minutes.
- Spiny! The razor-sharp spines which give the tree its name are a painful inconvenience to anyone trying to get a meal from it. The spines are liable to stick in and sometimes even break off in the wound, causing infections.
For as long as the Qadiri have been on Tygara, there has been the Greater Emerald Spine Tree. This plant evolved over millions of years to be perfectly fitted into its niche. The spines it grows is to ward away predators, but ultimately it needs creatures to spread its seeds, so over time animals adapted. The Horned Ghoush, the eventually domesticated herbivore of the plains, evolved thick skin and a mucus covered mouth capable of breaking through the plant's protective dome and eating the fruits. Other rodents and smaller creatures likewise would eat the fruit and spread the seeds.
When the Qadiri started to build their first states it was with the Spine Tree that they'd often go for food, along with meat and grains. Qadiri culture has come to recognise, and even romanticise the Spine Tree, seeing it as an allegory of themselves. A hostile, thorny exterior against enemies, and a shaded, hospitable interior for friends. Poems, songs and many a passage in narratives feature it, often as a means of showing the providence of the gods to the hero or heroine. Indeed, the Spine Tree was often associated with deities of the land and with Kashara the supreme Qadiri Goddess.
Whatever the origins and romantic ideals the Spine Tree has been vital for the Qadiri over the centuries. Armies would often time their marches to take them through the scrublands when the fruit of the Spine Tree were ripening to help their logistic burdens. Many a soldier across generations have made camp and prayed to find an unpicked tree they can get some additional food from.
This food comes from the fruits of the Spine Tree. Once a soldier or traveller pierces the spiny dome surrounding the trunk (each squad would often carry a billhook or scythe for this purpose!) they would pick the fruit. Most soldiers across time and space carry a knife of some sort, but the Qadiri came to use a special type of knife with a hook on the reverse side. This hook was used to peel off the tough skin of the fruit in strips once cuts had been made in the top. A small piece of Yazgid leather was often used to hold the spiny fruit whilst this was being done. A Qadiri veteran could cut and peel a Rationfruit in a matter of minutes. The white flesh within was somewhat starchy in taste and texture, but was edible…even if it was slightly bitter. However, cut up and boiled or roasted it was much better tasting, being slightly bland but nourishing and filling. The seeds were usually removed during this process and kept aside to be roasted and then either eaten whole or ground up as seasoning. When combined with bread, sauces and meat it forms a core part of the diet.
As time moved on the various empires of the Qadiri sought to ensure that the Spine Tree would work for them, and the first orchards were made. For these cases a gap will be made in the plant's spiky canopy to allow workers to enter and harvest the fruit. The fruit keeps well for several months if cooled and undamaged, allowing it to be sent on campaign. Close to modern times the fruit would be processed and tinned for maximum shelf life.
The spines of the tree had their own uses as an early form of barbed wire, where the spikes were twisted into ropes. A particularly cruel Mirza of Ankylion is said of have taken the spines, cut them down and woven the tips into scourges she then used on her enemies for punishment. The sight of prisoners with their backs shredded were common enough that she became known as "The Emerald Scourge". Eventually and inevitably a rebellion overthrew her, and she was executed by being secured to a post and having the spines driven into her until after an agonising time she expired. After this it became a cultural taboo to use the spines as a weapon or deterrent.
The distribution of the Spine Tree is very wide. It covers all of Zhukathis and Khajwar except the deserts, mountains and jungle regions to some degree, though the southern plains are usually too cold. It is not found on Yarkul or Ajustra as they are too cold. Recently, some Spine Trees planted by Qadiri settlers on Arkas had their seeds spread unexpectedly leading to several islands having an explosion of growth. Ill-informed Firemane officials decided to use fire to clear the growth, despite warnings. The result was an even greater spread of fire borne seeds and the Spine Trees entrenchment!
Today, the Spine Tree is facing a new lease on life as its fruit and the various Qadiri cuisine attached to it spreads to their Asuran cousins and even to the galaxy beyond. Efforts to expand the groves sometimes come at the cost of wildlands or existing settlements, whilst the craze for the new food leaves other farmers disadvantaged.
