Blood Apples (Forkplant Bulbs)

Neither similar to apples, nor made of blood, blood apples are rather like fat pitless red peaches which inexplicably make the eater furious. They do retain a slight coppery tang to the taste, though. These fruits are not seasonal, normally swelling in ample supply from hooking forkplants without apparent flowering a few weeks after any heavy rain. The demand for blood apples is normally satisfied by foraging within the woodlands of the Plane of Teeth. In fact, enough are gathered for market to keep their prices lower in Bloodmarsh than those of imported Southland apples. For this reason, despite their deleterious effect on one's patience and capacity for restraint, blood apples are a sweet staple for the diets of many in Bloodmarsh.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The trunk or stalk rises six or seven feet unbroken, and then begins to bifurcate repeatedly until a mass of thin trailing twigs are held aloft at the canopy about fifteen feet up. The roots of a forkplant are astonishingly ephemeral and thin, making a hairlike sheet just below the surface which dwindles to gossamer transparency only a few feet from the foot of the bole. The blood apple grows in a circular cluster right below the branching point of a hooking forkplant. These plants, seemingly sickly and leafless all year, bear a heavy bounty of the succulent fruits a few weeks after any major rainfall.

Genetics and Reproduction

It is actually unknown how the Forkplant reproduces, as blood apples have no evident seeds, nor do they germinate if planted. They seem to all the world to be either an infertile hybrid which yet enjoys wide distribution, or possibly they are no fruits at all, possibly analogous to an extremely succulent leaf. It has therefor proven impossible so far to cultivate forkplants. As it stands, no forkplants ever appear closer than a few dozen paces apart, and so .

Ecology and Habitats

The forkplant seems to prefer the shady wetlands of bogs and wooded plains. It is habitat to certain birds which build in its numerous crotches, a fact often remarked by young botanists for cheap comedy. Blood apples seem to be born in greater abundance by plants in especially red-soiled regions and places with heavier rainfall.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Forkplants are pithy and frail, offering no use except as indifferent tinder. Blood apples, on the other hand, are a perennial fresh crop which is ubiquitous throughout Bloodmarsh and delicious in both sweet and savory gastronomic deployments. The tangy, slightly metallic edge to the flavor makes the fruit taste heartier and more wholesome in much the way that the comforting esophageal warmth of good wine satisfies the palette as much as the flavor does.
However, it is noted that one who imbibes more than a small portion of a blood apple shortly developes a sort of restless energy and impatience of mind, and a large dose disposes a subject to unwarranted rages at the slightest provocation. For this reason, the fruits are often taken in desiccate form (known as "blood prunes") as a sort of pre-battle chemical fortifier; combatants are bolstered in determination if not discipline by the raging inner fire which a handful of blood prunes engenders. The effect wears off over about an hour in subjects with healthy livers.

Scientific Name

Allodendritus Antepasti

Origin/Ancestry

Native only to Bloodmarsh, the forkplant has only been documented since F.T. 1871. It is speculated to be an invasive species, though in adjacent regions they seem to be absent.