Pommela

The Pommela is a coastal fruit native to the island of La Rossa. Edible and savory in taste, it is believed to have been cultivated by humans on the island for the entire length of recorded history. Historically, it has tended to thrive in the island's lowlands, due to Storm-driven precipitations all year round, although the years after the Calming placed a significant strain on its growth.

Description

The pommela tree is decidious, and tends to grow up to a meager 2 meters in height, with many trees growing to a height of little more than a meter. Growing mostly on rocky terrain, the trees firmly tangle themselves in place with complex root systems that serve in primarily holding the surrounding stones in place. Subject to powerful wind throughout its history, due to its proximity to the coastline and the full strength of the Storm, the pommela tree joins the surrounding shrubbery in emphasizing elasticity and firm roots as opposed to rigid structures.

Used to high amounts of rainfall, the trees produce soft, juice-rich fruits round in shape and green in color. Usually less than 5 centimeters in diameter, the flesh of the fruit (covered in a thin layer of skin) surrounds a number of small, hard, sour-tasting seeds sitting in the middle. Used to perpetuate the species, the seeds are likely meant to be spat out by those feeding on the fruit, in order to allow for the tree's spread. Rich and savory in their taste once they reach ripeness, the fruit has long been enjoyed and cultivated by humans living on the island. Birds, such as the arrowhead, are known to dig into the fruits with the tips of their beaks in order to extract their seeds, seemingly unaffected by their taste.

Following the Second Calming, when the Storm cleared around the island of La Rossa, several years of uncharacteristically low precipitation led to the wild populations of the tree to dwindle, with the surviving ones producing lesser numbers of fruit, which was often abnormally disfigured. Government advice has requested farmers to regularly water trees in their vicinity in order to protect them from the arid conditions, especially following a number of injurious and even fatal rockfalls caused by the deterioration of the trees' own natural barriers. The collapse of nature has led to the practice of wire cages being used to fix unstable terrain in place, with little permanent solutions being found for the loss of the trees themselves.

Food and other uses

Although the pommela fruit has seen culinary uses, it is mostly eaten alone, usually while it remains juicy and fresh. Alternatively, the fruit can also be dried, allowing for its long-term storage. Other forms of consumption had the pommela also find uses in fruit salads, pressed juices, desserts, and occasionally, has been included in sauce and meal recipes. Locals with whom recipes are popular note that the sweet and savory sensation complements the taste of meat.

The fruit has traditionally been associated with beliefs of its curative properties, and has been often referred to in recipes for folk medicine. Local legends as to its effect vary, with mixed accounts of whether the juice has restorative properties on its own, or if it works to amplify the properties of other healing remedies, such as opulila. A ritual conserved especially among elders, such herbal medicine is often used in treating cold, morning sickness, or otherwise upset stomachs.

Cultivation

The pommela trees grow on farms across the coastline of La Rossa, although they are most heavily concentrated in the city-province of Buglio, owing to its large plains and arable land. Due to the loss of wildlife following the Calming, the irrigated plantations upon which the trees grow remain as some of the biggest populations of the endemic plant found on the island. The farm-grown trees differ from the ones found in nature, as they have been selectively crossed with each other in order to produce a variety of strains, emphasizing size, taste, arid resilience, or a combination of factors. As such, due to the differences accumulated over the centuries, should the wild pommela come to go extinct, their existence may not be fully replaced by the domesticated variants.