Repera

Repera is the staple crop cultivated on the island of Hapšâw, where it is used in a large variety of food. The plant is a biennial cereal grain, consisting of an underground bulb, which grows in the plant's first year, and a surface part, which grows, blooms, and bears seeds in the plant's second year, both of which are used in Hapšâw'l cuisine, though for different reasons. Various cultivars of the plants prioritize either the bulb or the seeds.

Description

The repera plant can be anywhere between 20 to 35cm tall when measuring from the surface. The bulb is typically about 8-10cm wide, 6-10cm tall, round and is wider at the bottom. It's constructed out of layers of thick (around 0.5cm at their thickest point) modified leaves, which store nutrients during the winter. During the summer leaves emerge from the bulb, they have an elongated pentagonal shape.

The flowers of the plant are small and white, or pale blue. They grow at the top of the plant's stem in a staggered row formation, typically facing west. The plant blooms in the time between the wet and dry seasons and develops seeds in the early wet season, the seeds themselves are thin and about a centimeter long each, they are wrapped in thin shells, with a single long strand protruding from the top, they maintain the flowers' arrangement.

Uses

The bulb of the plant has a high starch content, though it is edible when raw it is usually cooked before consumption, a common method of preparation is roasting the bulb over fire, or julienning and fry it to create a dish similar to a hash brown. The bulb has a slightly salty taste.

The seeds can be ground into a flour, or boiled and served as a side, they are also often used as chicken feed and a component of pig feed. They are largely flavorless.