Bubbleplum

The Bubbleplum is an unusual plant. It grows in various different (but always hard-to-access) places across the continent. It's life cycle includes a very fragile stage where the fruit grows, protected by a surround bubble. If the bubble is popped, the fruit turns immediately to an ashy powder. But if special measures are taken, the juice of the fruit can be carefully extracted and used to create life-giving elixirs known as "health potions".

Basic Information

Anatomy

The plant grows as a sort of flaxen bush. For each bush, three tall stalks form that rise a little above the long slender leaves of the rest of the plant. At the top of these stalks a flower blossoms and, once pollinated, a bubble rises up, resting on the petals of the flower. A fruit forms inside the bubble, having no skin and no fibre - just a juicy blob held together by surface tension.
Inside the juice of the fruit grow a small cluster of seeds. The seeds ripen and germinate, separating from the cluster and floating in the juice.
Eventually the bubble pops, any remaining juice dries instantly and the seeds are blown away to grow another plant.

Ecology and Habitats

The bubbleplum can be found in quite a range of locations. It sometimes grows on cliffsides beside waterfalls, sometimes in a hidden desert oasis. Sometimes one may be found in the depths of a jungle. It is a mystery just what makes a place suitable for growing bubbleplum.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Though it is extremely difficult, it is possible to extract the juice of a bubbleplum. Those who carry out the extraction will sometimes deliberately wait until the fruit has aged. There is less fluid available, but the seeds are able to survive and germinate. While nobody has succeeded in growing bubbleplum in a convenient garden, planting the seeds alongside the parent plant does tend to result in a greater crop next year. And the locations they do grow in typically have a certain self-securing nature.