Rudusu Plant

This plant thrives in the cold waters north of Kos. It grows in the shallows where there's plenty of sunlight. The entire plant is edible, but the root is what's primarily eaten. The leaves tend to be very bitter and salty. Outside of the region, they are known as water potatoes. Though originally a wild plant, the rudusu plant has since become fully domesticated. The tuber has grown far larger than any wild counterpart. It is cultivated in underwater beds near the shore with nets around the outer perimeter to keep fish and other animals away from the plants while they grow. Naturally, some fish are caught in the nets, and those are eaten or used for fertilizer. It grows quickly during the summer months and is harvested in late summer. The seeds are planted in autumn, and they lie dormant during the winter until spring when they sprout and grow. The leaves are long, thick, and green. The tuber is sandy colored with a tough outer skin and softer flesh. When it comes time to reproduce, stalks grow out of the plant underneath the leaves. They contain male and female parts, and the current and wave action loosen the male spores which then float to other plants to fertilize the eggs. Those then develop into seeds and are shed. However, due to domestication, the seeds no longer shed naturally. Farmers remove the leaves and seeds together leving the tuber and then replant the seeds for the next year's crop. The seeds aren't very good tasting on their own, but they commonly get mixed into animal feed when there's excess. There are a few color variations of rudusu. Red and white rudusu are the most common color variants, but there's also a rare black rudusu. No one is too sure how the colors come about, and there are times when the plants from within the same crop are different colors. The seeds look identical to one another, and it's impossible to know what the color will be until harvest. Picking a black rudusu is an omen of a harsh winter. It's given to the temple as an offering in hopes of staving off bad weather.