Vegetable Lamb
The Common Barometz, otherwise known as the vegetable lamb, is one of the principle crops grown in Wheat Country. It is the precursor to the Mock-Suckling Plant and is both a source of food and cloth fiber.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Like its successor, the vegetable lamb somewhat resembles a squash plant. It has broad, spiny leaves and grows close to the ground.
When it blooms, its blossoms are a bright mango orange with six petals. The flowers carry an aroma of linen and orange blossoms. When it fruits, it produces small clusters that resemble greenish cotton balls at first, but slowly grow into plant-sheep hybrids that are each about the size of a newborn lamb. These are the infamous "vegetable lambs" that give the plant its name.
Genetics and Reproduction
The vegetable lamb is a flowering plant. Its blossoms are pollinated by bees and butterflies in Wheat Country.
Its reproductive cycle is slightly different from its successor. It blooms in late spring and fruits in early autumn.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The Barometz's infamous lamb-fruit can be used for a variety of purposes. Just one of them can feed 1-2 people, and its meat is said to taste like crab.
Additionally, their "wool" is good for making textiles. Barometz cloth is highly prized for its softness and durability, as well as how cheap it is to cultivate. It is the most common cloth used in the continent of Heraklea.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The vegetable lamb is native to Wheat Country. Since it was discovered, it has spread to the more arable, temperate lands of Pandora and Heraklea.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Like the Mock-Suckling Plant, the vegetable lamb maintains a symbiotic relationship with Sun Wheat when they are planted together. The vegetable lamb protects the wheat from parasites, and the wheat shares its nutrients with the low-growing plant.
Earth
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