Aelum shrub
The aelum shrub is a herbaceous perennial plant with a wide, flattened teardrop bulb base that extends just above ground level. This squat, brown wooden-like bulb sprouts a thick mass of leaves and blossoms. These blossoms hang in clusters from finger-thick stems with an average of fifteen to twenty-five of the small, brightly colored blooms.
The blooms are distinctive not only for their color but their texture. Each bloom has a soft, velvety feel to its petals. They have a rather strong smoke-citrus perfume aroma when in full bloom during the spring and early summer months.
The leaves are the most striking aspect of the plant. An aelum's leaves are large and light to deep green in color, being 20.3 to 28 cm long shaped like three teardrops laying side by side. They have a smooth, almost shiny appearance due to their hydrophobicity with regards to repelling water. This property makes the plant useful to the inhabitants of the Ilfar Islands region and to its survival in the rainy seasons.
Basic Information
Anatomy
A fully developed aelum shrub is almost as tall as it is wide at .9 meters in size. However, much of this bulk is taken up by its large leaf structure. The wide, teardrop bulb grows thick stems that unfurl their large leaves at the ends when mature. The unfurling process is slow, starting at a young age of a given stem. This creates multiple tiers of wide leaves of varying sizes from base to top of the plant.
Despite the leaves and blossoms, the main 'working' part of the plant is underground with a rich network of long roots and tubers. An aelum shurb is accustom to temperate rain forest climates, so it gains most of its moisture through sub-surface means.
Aelum shrubs grow best in partial shade and damp, peat-like soil, as per their natural environment in the Ilfar Islands forests. The wide leaves protect the bulb root base from over-saturation and damage. In addition, because the plant prefers semi-shade, the wide leaves ensure maximum sun exposure during the daylight hours.
The shrub blooms in spring, with the blossoms appearing on long stems that curl from the weight of the flowers. This stem grows out of the center of the triad of mature teardrop-shaped leaves near the top-most of the plant.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The aelum shrub is cultivated in some areas but that is predominantly for the broad leaves. Its flowers and stems are not edible due to a high acidic content that gathers there in the plant. However, the tubers that extend from teardrop bulb below the ground are edible.
Aelum shrub leaves
Leaves are harvested from the shrubs after the late summer-early fall rains arrive. They are then taken to be processed which involves being suspended in a rock sauna.
The sauna cures the leaves, extracting the acidic toxins and leaving the leaf pliable to rubbery in texture. Those leaves are then used as food packaging since the leaves then act as a natural preservative. Similarly, preserved food wrapped in aelum leaves can be cooked directly in the leaves.
The packaged food is untied then placed in a pot or skillet for heating. Cooking does destroy the leaves but those leaves cause a more evenly distributed amount of heat over the food. Also, the leaves contain and keep any oil, water, or cooking fats needed for a recipe localized around what is being cooked.
Aelum Tubers
Aelum tubers are a long yellow-indigo tuber that extends out from the bulb base just below the soil. These tubers are valuable as fertilizer for growing efforts and as food.
These tubers are often cut then boiled in milk, fish and other vegetables for an iron-rich soup. They are also sliced then dried in a rock oven as part of a dried ration mix taken on long trips. Pepper is often used in conjunction with either method of cooking.
No matter how it is prepared, these tubers have a mild butter-nut taste and a medium-firm to mush consistency when cooked.
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