Fire Grain

Because the desert needs more heat

You know those bushes that sometimes are the only thing you see in the desert? The ones with the sturdy cluster of branches and sometimes blooms with small white flowers? That's Fire Grain. Quite unimpressive as a plant, isn't it? To think that bush means so much to the people living here. You can't go one day without having at least one meal that includes some form of the grains. It really is quite remarkable.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Fire Grain is a herbaceous plant that grow on a bunch of thin stems, giving it a very bushy appearance. The stems are green and slightly striped, while the branches that grow from the stems are brown. At the end of the branches it grows clusters of green leafs in a hand-like shape with uneven edges that have given more than one person a scare on a moonlit night.
The bush blooms with small, white flowers, often not even a centimeter big, that grows at the parting between branches. This provides some shelter from wind and sun so that the flowers can survive long enough to get pollinated and produce the grains it is named after. The grains are a reddish brown colour and grow in small clusters from each flower.

Genetics and Reproduction

When the plant is fully mature it grows very small, white and scentless flowers. As these are pollinated they turn into a cluster of grains that is, if not harvested, dropped as the plant starts to die.

Growth Rate & Stages

Fire Grain is not perennial, meaning that after it has flowered and produced its seeds the plant begins to die. The seeds that get to grow grow slowly, it takes almost a year for the bush to bloom, which it does for just a couple of weeks before the cycle starts again.

Ecology and Habitats

The bush grows in the rocky parts of the desert where it clings to cliffs and stones, spreading its roots down the cracks in search for water.

Additional Information

Domestication

As it grows mainly in the desert, where the people are nomadic and water is scarce, domestication has never gotten far. It is however one of the most foraged plants there is and people harvesting the grains from it always make sure to leave some grains behind to ensure that there will still be plants there next year.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Fire Grain is one of the most used plants in the desert. It is extremely hardy, even though its appearance doesn't give that impression, and grow in almost all regions with enough heat during the day. Its grains are very nutritious and are either eaten roasted as they are, or ground into a flour that is used in baking and cooking of stews and the like. If eaten fresh it is quite spicy.

Food isn't the only use this plant has however, both the leaves and the flowers have certain medicinal properties as well. The leaves can be boiled down to a concoction to help ease coughing and from the flower an essence can be made that can induce heavy sweating, something that is used a lot in cleansing of the body.

Conservation Status

Common

Average Height

Up to 50 centimeters