Palette

Palettes are a vegetable that grows in the warm waters of Ocearia. They are a common sight growing in backyards of many Qellamons.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Palettes get their name from the pods that extend from the stalk. The stalks, when fully grown, have a diameter of 5 to 7cm, at the bottom. Up to 4 pods can grow on the stalk, growing no less than 6cm away from each other. The pods are shaped like paint palettes, and are a dark green with yellow stripes along them. Each pod contains six seeds, one seed circled by 5 more. Right at the top of the stalk is a flower that blooms once the pods have grown.

Genetics and Reproduction

When the pods are about a week old, they will start to deteriorate and fall off, leaving the seeds to fall out and roll along the seabed until they get buried. They will then start to grow, and form a new palette.

Growth Rate & Stages

Palettes take about 6 weeks to grow its stalk, then another 10 weeks for the pods to form. The growing of the stalk is known as marinulation, and the growing of the pods is known as achaidolation.

Ecology and Habitats

Wild palettes grow in open waters, where the sunlight can easily reach the shallow seabed. Palettes grow in clusters, and when they grow a lot they can block out the entire view of the sand.
Farmed palettes are typically spread more apart from each other, that way no plant is blocking another plant, and all can get equal light. Fertiliser is also used to speed up growing and producing of seeds, which is the only edible part of the plant.

Additional Information

Domestication

Selective breeding has caused the pods to grow bigger, and the seeds are almost twice as big as wild palettes. Palettes have been farmed for thousands of years, and became the most famous vegetable about 112 years ago in the Uabar Region.

Geographic Distribution

• Ocearia