Braccka Plant

Basic Information

Anatomy

Thin, single stranded, kelp-like plants that anchor themselves to rocks on the sea floor. The males tend to be predominantly brown in colour, while the female plants are more green. The female plants also generate floating lily-pad like leaves, called Caps; the purpose of which, has yet to be discovered.

Genetics and Reproduction

This plant can reproduce asexually, via budding (this is often carried out by farmers) or sexually (using fish that shelter in them to pollinate their fruits). The reproductive material of the plants is contained in the Brucc layer (a thin slime layer that is used to defend the plant), which allows certain fish to transport it between mature individuals.
After the fruit has been pollinated, it is released and floats quickly to the surface. From here, it will float for about a week before losing its buoyancy and sinking to the ocean floor. This allows the Braccka Plants to expand their forests and reduce intraspecific competition.

Growth Rate & Stages

These plants mature within four months of the seed pod sinking and anchoring to stones on the seabed. Once the roots have taken hold, the fruit is digested by the plant, and the outer skin dissolves. 
After this, the plants grow quickly and mature in approximately eight months, allowing for rapid colonization of new areas.

Ecology and Habitats

These plants prefer temperate ocean climes and rocky sea floors. They cannot colonize areas with gravelly, silty, or sandy seabed's, as large rocks are essential for them to anchor on. On Eukrosh, they are found along certain parts of the  the Omíchli Coast and across most of the eastern coast of Kahi'ore.

Dietary Needs and Habits

This plant passively filters most of the nutrients it needs from the water it resides in, and undergoes photosynthesis for most of the day.
To protect itself and it's fruits from predators, the plant produces a slime layer. This slime layer - known as Brucc - contains a fairly strong aphrodisiac, if a creature is exposed in sufficient volumes it can cause cardiac arrest.

Biological Cycle

These plants have a stable seasonal growth and produce fruit three times a year. The Braccka Plant has a lifespan of approximately four years, at which point its roots wither, it is released, and it decays along the surface of the ocean.

Additional Information

Domestication

Braccka has not been domesticated, as it is has extremely aggressive defense mechanisms. Farmers have been attempting to create strains that do not produce the Brucc layer. These efforts have thus far yielded poor results, as many local fish will eat the plants when it isn't protected by this slime layer.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

This plant is farmed for its fruit, Brucc and strands.
The fruit of this plant has a lime-green outer skin, that is about an inch thick. The fruit is similar in shape and size to coconuts. The edible part of the fruit within is black in colour, and is a solid mass surrounding a heavy seed. These fruits float for about a week after being released from the parent plant, and then sink to the ocean floor. This aids in expanding forests. When opening the fruit, check the colour of the meat. If it is black or grey it is safe to eat. It is unpalatable and causes vomitting/nausea if it has "bled" and become a faint red color.
The Brucc of the plant is also used as a primary component of Breva, a powerful psychedelic drug, that also acts as a spiritual and performance enhancer. Very few people risk harvesting this slime layer, as there is a great amount of risk to personal healthy, and it is illegal to do so.
Lastly, once a plant has died, the long, leafy tendrils can be harvested and dried in the sun. This causes them to smell much like rotten seaweed, but unlike kelp, these strands act more like a weak, silk fabric. It is absorbent, and slow drying, making it excellent for bandages.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

They are distributed in clusters, called 'forests', along the south-eastern coast of Eukrosh.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Some fish species, such as clown fish, congregate in these forests, as they are immune to the effects of Brucc. In exchange for the shelter the plant provides, the clown fish keep the plants clean of small organisms that might attempt to eat the plants leaf-strands.

Lifespan

3 years.

Average Height

10.3 - 14.4 feet.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Typically these plants are a semi-transparent kelp-brown colour, with sea green blotches.

Related Materials

• Breva