Evolution on Microbia followed a similar path as evolution on Earth, so it has some of the same plants. But not all of them. And some of the plants on Microbia are very different from ours. Here are just a few examples of edible fruits that are unique to Microbia. I've organized them into six regions, that don't exactly correspond to national boundaries:
And here are the unique fruits:
Region 1
The tralata is similar in texture to a mango, but has a creamy flavor. The tree produces a latex that is used for caulking boats and preventing biofouling of piers and hulls. It is a good storage fruit as it can be kept without refrigeration for several months without spoiling. (This is a good thing because iceboxes were recently invented in Lennox, but haven't made their way to northern Luria, yet.)
The distron has a meaty flesh, similar to a coconut, but vibrant red and sweeter. Unlike the coconut, the flesh fills the entirety of the distron fruit, so there is not any milk to be had by puncturing the shell. A single, highly toxic seed can be found in the small protuberance on one side of the fruit.
The copple is filled with hundreds of tiny seeds wrapped in a delicious flesh. The seeds themselves are too hard to crack with the teeth, so they must be spat out after the flesh has been sucked off. Accidentally swallowing too many seeds can lead to constipation.
The flesh of the phacrima is somewhat acrid and unpleasant to eat. The rind, however, is considered a delicacy. The phacrima bush has never been successfully cultivated, so it must be collected in the wild. And since the bush is rare, finding one is challenging. The rind can be candied or can be reduced to make a sauce that pairs well with just about any meat.
The aimanta resembles a mushroom but is actually the fruiting body of a slime mold. Most slime molds in Microbia are technically edible, but have an unappetizing flavor. But the aimanta has a flavor that is uniquely tangy and savory. They are best eaten sautéed in butter, but can also be chopped and eaten in a fruit salad with other fruits.
Region 2
The percula is an unusual aggregate fruit that is about the size of an avocado. It should be harvested when only a few of the drupelets have become spherical. Over the next few days, the flat drupelets will continue to mature and become spherical, which is when they can be eaten, thus providing food for several days. The unripe portion of the fruit keeps well, so these are popular among travelers.
The piphon is another unusual aggregate fruit. But this one grows individual fruitlets, which look like tiny straw hats, in layers. The rind is difficult to chew, so the conventional way to eat a fruitlet is to nip one side and then squeeze the contents into your mouth. The flavor is sweet and slightly tangy.
The loramine is notable for the considerable variety in appearance of the fruits that can come from a single tree. But despite this variation in color and texture of the rind, the flesh is uniform in having a flavor and texture similar to a pear—if eaten at the right stage of ripeness. The peel, if stretched and left in the sun, will turn to a durable material similar to leather due to the tannins that are naturally present. These tannins are also present in the unripe fruit, which can produce an unpleasant sensation in the mouth. Loramine leather is favored by the people of southern Luria and southern Bertani for making colorful, waterproof clothing for wearing during the monsoon season.
The oridis produces two types of fruit: a red fruit with yellow seeds and a yellow fruit with red seeds. Either one eaten separately is unremarkable, but eaten together they are quite enjoyable. The effect is even more pronounced if the yellow seeds are eaten with the yellow flesh or the red seeds eaten with the red flesh. Royalty and nobility in this region will employ oridini who specialize in separating seed and flesh for maximum effect.
The lumnia is covered with small tufts that cause a surprising sensation on the tongue. The flavor of the fruit is rather insipid, so the main organoleptic quality is the touch sensation. Why people like the lumnia so much is a matter of debate. Some sScientists have hypothesized that there is a mild narcotic in the tufts while others propose that the tufts are so fine that they stimulate the nerves of the mouth in unusual ways.
The nuncia has a hard shell with distributed hot spots. The flesh can be scooped out and cooked into a savory mush. The shell can be dried, but the soft spots will wither away, leaving many holes. Thus the husk of the nuncia is not suitable to be used like a gourd. Instead, it is filled with small rocks or hardened seeds and used as a musical instrument, something like a maraca.
The numba is a hypogeous fruit. After the flower is germinated, the stems will incline until the flower is thrust under the soil. The stem then withers and dies, leaving the developing fruit underground. The fruit takes 2–5 years to mature, by which time the mother plant has long disappeared. The ripe fruit can only be found by trained animals, such as pigs and dogs, with the same perils encountered by truffle hunters.
Region 3
The surrberry grows on a briar near the edges of deciduous forests. The flavor is somewhat akin to a combination of licorice and mint, which most find off-putting. For some, though, it is an acquired taste. One must suspect that the pleasure is in the pretentiousness rather than in the flavor.
The rona has a pale orange flesh that is inedible without preparation. The flesh must be crushed and fermented, like cacao or coffee berries, over a period of six weeks whereupon the flesh will assume the the appearance of vomit. Despite this unpleasant appearance, the rona paste makes a delicious drink that has a somewhat bitter aftertaste. Locals insist that the rona paste should be mixed with water and consumed unadulterated, but elsewhere people find that adding it to milk, instead, and adding a a little lemon and honey offsets the bitterness quite nicely.
The birdberry grows on trees and attracts many birds by its vivid red color. In humans and other animals it produces a fiery sensation on the tongue that is brief but vivid. Birds are unaffected, both most other creatures will avoid these fruits after the initial encounter. The two notable exceptions are humans and raccoons.
The murgberry grows abundantly on large trees. To harvest the berries, tarps are placed on the ground under the tree and then a harvester will climb the tree and vigorously shake the branches so that the berries fall into the tarps (along with a few cicadas and katydids, which can also be eaten). When chewed, the berries turn into a sweet gum, like chicle, that lasts indefinitely. The tree is also known for having extremely dense wood, which is called stonewood because it sinks like a stone when tossed into water.
The buskberry is unique in that the rind of the fruit is a shade of lilac while the juice is milky white. Furthermore, the enzymes present in the buskberry start the process of fermentation almost as soon as the fruit starts to get color. By the time the fruit is fully ripe, it is quite alcoholic. Children are warned not to eat them, lest they be driven mad; so naturally, children eat them all the time. Buskberry wine is a staple drink for adults at the evening meal in this region, but is met with casual disregard everywhere else.
The brassberry gets its name from its shiny, yellow appearance. It grows in the slow-moving parts of small rivers. The ripe fruit will fall into the water where it is eaten by fish, which sometimes transport the seeds to a new area before leaving them in the mud along the river bottom. Anglers have found that the brassberry doubles nicely as a snack and as bait.
The caedberry is incredibly hard, so it is sucked on rather than chewed. It is customary to keep caedberries under the lower lip, like a wad of tobacco, but unlike tobacco, caedberries are not stimulants. And the juice is swallowed, rather than spat out. Local health officials discourage the use of the caedberry because it is associated with discoloration of the teeth, gum disease, and oral cancer. However, their efforts are mainly met with diffidence.
The tree that bears the camral exhibits cauliflory—that is, the flowers emerge directly from the trunk of the tree (or sometimes from large branches). These flowers eventually produce camrals. The camral has a hollow center, surrounded by a ring of seeds, with striated flesh between the seeds and the rind. (A camral has been opened for demonstration in the image above.) The camral is fertilized by a species of springtail that picks up pollen while climbing into the flower. The springtail leaves its eggs there. If the camral is not harvested, the springtails will hatch and burrow their way out of the fruit. Otherwise, they are eaten along with the fruit by the unknowing consumer.
The larumberry is a very starchy fruit. It is commonly ground into a sweet gruel to which other fruits or honey can be added. It doesn't store well, though, so it can't be shipped and can only be eaten locally when it is in season.
The muscida is a tasty fruit that also happens to be rich in iodine. This makes it highly sought after in areas of the continent that are remote from the ocean and where goiter is common. Efforts have been made to grow the muscida tree in these regions, but so far none have been successful.
The alderberry is the fruit of an alder species that is unique to Microbia. Other alders have catkins that become woody and enclose the seeds. But the alderberry tree produces a fleshy covering around the seeds instead, which has a distinct honeycomb appearance. An alterberry is shown here next to some raspberries for size and texture comparison.
The sagraberry is related to the strawberry (included here for comparison). But instead of producing individual fruits, the sagraberry grows in a cluster that resembles a flower. Each fruitlet has a hard husk on the underside. Thus the typical way to eat the sagraberry is to insert the fruit partway into the mouth and scrape the sweet flesh off of the husk using the upper incisors. Because this method of consumption is inconvenient, it is especially popular at upper class soirées.
Region 4
The wart apple is a maize × apple hybrid. This would not be possible in our world because the two species are separated too far by evolution. But an unknown horticulturist in Microbia was able to accomplish this hybridization with a little help from his magic. The wart apple is entirely unpleasant to eat, but makes an astonishingly good whiskey that has some cider notes to it.
The parascena is a stone fruit. Despite its color, it is more closely related to plums and can be dried to make prunes. The nut is is wrapped in eucalyptus leaves with black cutch or aniseed and chewed as a mild stimulant. Long-term chewing of the parascena nut causes orange staining of the lips, teeth, and gums and is implicated in kidney disease and various cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. Parascena saliva causes staining, so most cities and towns in this area have public spittoons and laws against public spitting.
The paradise fruit is one of three species of dessert bananas that are cultivated in Microbia. Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense) hit Microbia much earlier and harder than it did in our world, with the result that they have had to expand their banana consumption to resistant banana species that have less flavor and don't store as well. The paradise fruit has enormous leaves that can be woven in to thatch roofs or clothing. The fruit is fairly sweet, but has large seeds that must be removed before consumption.
The manee banana is the second species of dessert banana that Microbians started cultivating after Fusarium devastated the original species of cultivated banana. It is able to able to resist the Fusarium by forming a scab over the fungal infection that prevents it from spreading to the rest of the plant. One such example is shown here. The manee banana has smaller seeds than the paradise fruit, but it isn't as sweet.
The black banana is the third species of dessert banana that Microbians started cultivating after Fusarium devastated the original species of cultivated banana. It gets its name from the fact that the flesh of the banana is purplish black, due to the production of anthocyanins. The anthocyanins protect the fruit against Fusarium and also make it so that the black banana plant can grow in colder climates that the other banana varieties.
The stone melon is a melon that is unique to Microbia. It has a single large seed and a thick rind that easily detaches from the flesh. Common practice is to make an incision all the way around the middle of the fruit and then lift off one half of the rind. The stone is easily removed and then the segments can be pulled out and eaten.
The ceram is a citrus fruit. It is a clava × citron hybrid. (See below for more information about the clava.) The ceram is incredibly acidic, even exceeding that of the lemon. It is used to marinate seafood so that it can be safely eaten raw or to tenderize white meats. It is also used to pickle certain vegetables that grow in this same region. It is also popular spread ceram curd on sugar cookies and sprinkle them with a hot paprika.
The skurk is a variety of cucumber that is unique to Microbia. It is mainly notable for the prominent straight or sometimes curvy ridges on the peel, which is so thick that fresh skurks must be pared before consumption. Skurks are reasonably tasty when pickled and, because of the thick peel, are excellent at staying crunchy during the pickling process.
The dryo is the edible cone of a cycad tree that is unique to Microbia. The dryo is commonly eaten dried, in cakes, or stuffed with sheep cheese and sesame seeds. Dryos can also be pressed in water, filtered through a fine muslin, and reduced to make a delicious syrup.
The asylla is an unusual, flat berry. The inside of the berry is white and somewhat gritty, with rows of red seeds about the same size as kiwi seeds. The most popular way to consume asylla is to wait for the fruit to dry out and then remove the seeds and grind them into a paste. The asylla paste is then combined with vanilla and baked into bite-sized pastries called mankans.
The dusky fig is closely related to the common fig that is much starchier. The breba crop is sweet enough to be eaten fresh, but the main crop of dusky fig, when ripe, is cut into slices and then fried in palm oil to make chips. Dusky fig chips can be stored longer than dried figs.
The moonberry gets its name from the fact that the ripe berries are dimly bioluminescent. They are constantly glowing, but the light of the sun overpowers their light, and in reality, so does the light of the Microbian moons. On the rare nights when there is only starlight, moonberries are easy to find by their pale purple glow. These nights are festive occasions, called 'moonberry nights', and nearly the whole populace will journey to the woods to look for the berries.
The pujah is a tiny, crunch fruit that is typically eaten wrapped in lemongrass, as shown here. What makes this fruit unique is that it is covered in urticating hairs. (The lemongrass is to prevent the hairs from pricking the fingers, where they would be wasted.) When the hairs become lodged in the tongue, they set off a kaleidoscope of flavors, with no two ever eliciting exactly the same experience.
The nacla is a soft fruit, about the size of a goose egg. Inside are eight yellowish-white segments that are sweet and tangy. It is typically eaten fresh, but can also be made into a jam or eaten in a fruit salad with grapes and melon balls. Its leaves have an intoxicating effect on cats, much like catnip.
The apon is a citrus fruit that is unique to Microbia. It is closely related to finger limes, desert limes, and doojas. The apon can be eaten with the rind or the juicy pearls can be removed and used as a garnish. Apons also make good marmalades and pickles.
The mirli is a citrus fruit that has a rather bitter flavor if eaten raw. When turned into a marmalade, however, the bitterness is entirely removed and all that remains is a slightly acidic but remarkably smooth flavor that goes well with a variety of nut butters. The mirli is a ceram × pomelo hybrid. (See above for more information about the ceram.)
The manda lime is a citrus fruit with a thin, mild rind that can be eaten directly. They have very little pulp; most of the flavor is found in the rind and in the albedo. Manda limes are quite popular among children, but are generally disdained by adults. The manda lime is a papeda × ceram hybrid. (See above for more information about the ceram.)
The proaba is a very juicy fruit, when eaten raw, and has a flavor reminiscent of a cherry tomato. But when cooked, the proaba takes on a consistency and flavor that is more like a candied sweet potato and is typically eaten in a stew with goat meat and peanut sauce.
The linchfruit is a small fruit, slightly larger than a grape. It grows in bunches that hang from bare branches. Each fruit has a hard shell that is always orange, which makes it hard to tell when the flesh inside is ripe. Unripe fruit has a high tannin content, which is astringent and can make the mouth feel cottony; ripe fruit has no such effect and tastes a little like nutmeg. If eaten when unripe, the linchfruit can cause the production of bezoars, which can be usually treated with papaya juice and soda water.
The inside of a darini is pale green and has the thickness and smoothness of a soft custard. The seeds are large and black and somewhat toxic. Typically a darini is chopped in half with a falcata blade and then eaten with a spoon, spitting out the seeds as needed. Darini seeds are very spherical, so it is common for children to find the best ones, paint them, and use them to play a game called skranche that is similar to our game of marbles.
The green pith of the tinomi is unusually sweet. After the interior has been eaten, the pith is scraped out and left to dry. The dry pith is then ground into a find powder that can be added to other foods as a sweetener. Local traditional medicine holds that the tinomi is a 'cold' fruit and therefore suitable for treating 'hot' conditions, such as fevers, rashes, and dehydration, as well as to soothe the tongue and belly after eating spicy foods.
The vigo is a close relative of the ginkgo that produces odorless fleshy fruits. The flesh is stripped from the vigo seeds, which can be eaten the same way as gingko seeds. The flesh is then cut into strips and roasted. Roasted vigo can be eaten plain, but is usually used to flavor rice porridge.
The necor is a citrus fruit. It is a mandarin × clava hybrid. (See below for more information about the clava.) The hybrid combines the size and sweetness of the mandarin with the rind qualities and bitterness of the clava. Most people find it too bitter to eat on its own, so the segments are usually eaten with honey or dryo syrup. A single tree is capable of producing both wrinkled fruit and dimpled fruit (both shown here.)
The karika is a citrus fruit. It is the result of backcrossing an extra sweet bud sport of necor with a clava. In other words, it is a (mandarin × clava) × clava hybrid. The karika is sweeter than a standard necor and only produces fruit with dimpled rinds, not fruits with wrinkled rinds. Karika juice is almost as popular as orange juice.
The clava is a citrus fruit that is unique to Microbia. It is the progenitor of many other citrus fruits only found in Microbia. The raw fruit is unpleasant to eat, but can be candied. The zest is often added curries or marinades for fish. The leaves of the clava tree are commonly added to stir fries.
The suan is a stonefruit that is related to apricots and peaches, but differs in having a somewhat ribbed appearance and a dark red flesh that is tangier than either of its relatives. The stone contains a nut, similar to an almond, but with a flavor that is more like a sweet chestnut.
The sospory is a thornless, non-toxic jimsonweed fruit. The flavor is somewhere in between sweetened coconut and banana. Stacks of flat black seeds lie between the rind and the flesh, which must be removed before consumption as they are still poisonous.
The buuli plantain is a variety of cooking banana that began to be cultivated after Fusarium wilt wiped out the original species of bananas that were in cultivation. It is even starchier than the original plantain and has fewer nutrients. In try years, the buuli plantain accumulates cyanogenic glycosides which make the fruit bitter and poisonous. Despite knowing the dangers, thousands of people die each year from eating bitter buuli plantains because of extreme hunger.
Despite its name, the pancra apple is not related to the apple. The fruit is ripe when it turns from red to deep purple and becomes puckered. Inside the fruit are are long vesicles that stay juicy despite the desiccated rind. These are peeled out, one at a time, and sucked into the mouth, before being chewed. The juice is brown and tends to stain the teeth.
The macara is a citrus fruit. It is a pomelo clava hybrid. (See above for more information about the clava.) It has the thinnest rind of any citrus, which makes in unsuitable for marmalades or zesting. The rind is not edible, so it still has to be peeled, but it is generally as easy to peel as a freestone peach. A partially peeled macara is shown for demonstration.
The blance is a large, cultivated hawthorn fruit. It is sometimes used to make a sweet and sour sauce. It is also common to combine blance fruit with flour to make meal that can be baked into thin wafers that are eaten with tea.
The elecamp is covered with a hard shell that has pliable spines at one end. The shell is removed to eat the pale white flesh that surrounds a small stone. The elecamp does not last long, once picked, so it must be eaten quickly. Pitted elecamps can be preserved in a syrup or by being candied. The candied fruits are often sold on skewers by street vendors.
The verla is prepared for consumption by first dipping it multiple times in cane juice and then hanging it up to dry. After the rind has become coated in rock candy, it is shattered and ground into coarse granules. The granules are sweet and leave a warm feeling on the tongue (but never painful, like hot peppers). Verla granules can be eaten plain or sprinkled on watermelon or strips of turnip root.
Region 5
The crimonberry is closely related to blueberries and cranberries. It differs in having a brilliant yellow pulp and flavor that is mildly reminiscent of camphor. Inhabitants of this region find that crimonberries can be sucked on to soothe a sore throat or mild cough. There is a local custom of rubbing a crimonberry unguent on the feet, supposedly to ward against night terrors. One has to wonder, though, if this custom originated with a housewife hoping to counteract her husband's pungent feet.
The scioberry is naturally pale green and about the size of a pea. But vignerons have discovered that inoculating the scioberries in the early summer with a strain of Botrytis results in deep red berries with a much richer flavor. The scioberries can be fermented by themselves to make an alcoholic beverage called scopa or they can be fermented with grapes to add complexity to a wine.
Despite its name, the pine fig is related to neither pines nor figs; it is a cactus fruit. The seeds are large and inedible but can be ground into a nutritious flour that prevents scurvy during the dry season. Thus the pine fig, despite only growing during the wet months, is considered a fruit for all seasons.
The diacon gourd is inedible when raw. But when a diacon gourd has been baked sufficiently, the whole fruit becomes a treat. The rind becomes soft, but crunchy and the flesh takes on the consistency of pumpkin pie filling but with a flavor more like nougat. Even the stem can be eaten, though its flavor is unremarkable. Thus baked diacon gourds make a nice treat to take on a picnic or a short journey.
The jaga is a sidekick fruit. It is rarely eaten by itself. People usually combine it with other fruits in a fruit salad or combine its juice with the juice of other fruits. A small percentage of people complain that it just tastes bad all the time. It appears that they can taste something in the fruit that is undetectable by others.
The ammonberry is found on low, scraggly bushes that grow on windswept heathlands. They are difficult to harvest because of the wicked thorns borne by the bush. But reward is well worth the effort. Ammonberries are best macerated in rum and then poured over a spongey white cake. Some regions will go one step further and top this concoction with whipped egg whites.
The flesh of the picara is a brilliant red, which gives it is other name, bloodfruit. The skin is easily removed, but the stone is not. Most find it easiest to peel the flesh from the stone with the teeth rather than carving it off with a knife. However, this can lead to strings of the flesh getting caught between the teeth. Local legend has it that leaving the flesh of a picara in your teeth overnight will convert you into a vampire.
The namor grows in mountainous areas with easy access to ice. A favorite method of eating the namor is to peel the fruit and mash the flesh into a pulp. The pulp is then combined with cream and crushed ice to make a cold treat that the locals call "slushed namor".
The crim pear is a variety of pear that has a leathery skin. More remarkable is the flesh. Unlike most pears, the flesh of the crim pear is buttery both in texture and in flavor. So much so, in fact, that it is often spread on bread as a butter substitute by the poor since they cannot afford real butter. Since it has less fat, though, it cannot be used as a substitute for butter in cooking.
The spiny fig is a closely related species to the prickly pear, but it has seeds that are small enough and soft enough that they don't interfere with the eating of the fruit. Most varieties have dense clusters of spines that are longer and that inflict stings that are more painful than those of the prickly pear. A special tool, called a qonast, must be used to remove the spiny clusters before the spiny fig can be peeled and eaten. Only recently has a spineless variety been developed. The paddles of the spiny fig are inedible.
The bora squash is typically prepared as raw cubes on bamboo skewers. Street vendors will dust them with your choice of spices. The most popular is cumin. They are also tasty when sliced into thin chips and deep fried in wisent lard.
The mato is related to the lumnia, but its spines are blunt and so do not have the same effect. To prepare a mato for consumption, it is first peeled and then the woody interior is cut into slices. The mato slices are then toasted until the outside is caramelized. Then you take bites of the toasted mato, suck the juices out, and expectorate the spent pulp.
The harmonyberry is a tart little berry that grows in thick bunches. The best way to separate the berries from the stems is to slap the bunch against the surface of a large bowl of water. The berries will separate from the pedicel and sink to the bottom of the bowl. The most popular dish is a sauce made of harmonyberries, terragon, and yogurt. The sauce can be used as a dip for bread, as a sauce poured over boiled quail eggs, as a gravy for grilled tofu, etc.
The bacara squash has a mild flavor and mild texture. It is often used to familiarize children and foreigners to the idea of eating squash before introducing varieties that have stronger flavors and stringier textures.
The fly squash is the fruit of a cucurbit that has evolved a unique form of carnivory. When the fruit is still small, it has crypts that are filled with a sticky, vinegary gel. Pomace flies are attracted to the smell of vinegar and become trapped in the gel. Eventually the sides of the crypts grow together, enclosing the flies, which are then digested. On average, a single fly squash captures and digests thousands of pomace flies per crypt. This makes them an excellent source of protein. Young fly squash flesh can also be used as a meat tenderizer.
Region 6
The lieris is rarely eaten. Instead, the most common use for the lieris is as a pomander. Geometrical patterns are first carved into the rind of the lieris. Then a mixture of cloves, ambergris, and sweet flag is rubbed into the cuts. As the lieris dries out, its essences will combine with the other ingredients to produce a pleasant but not overpowering scent.
The succi melon is a small melon, about the size of a grapefruit. To eat one, you first slice off the top. Then you insert a small crushing tool, called a margona, and pulverize the flesh of the succin melon until it becomes a thick liquid. Then the liquid is drunk from the melon rind.
The flumber is the fruit of a plant that is closely related to ginger. Despite its appearance, the flumber is not prickly and is easy to peel and eat. The flavor is reminiscent of gingerroot, but sweeter. Because of this, Microbians use flumber where in our world we use ginger (e.g., ginger snaps, ginger bread, ginger ale, etc.)
The mousemelon is a variety of muskmelon that has a stringy flesh. Local folklore says that mice will burrow into mousemelons and make their nests therein. (Naturalists, however, have been unable to corroborate even a single instance of this behavior.) This has given rise to a summertime practice of carving holes into the empty rinds of mousemelons and leaving them outdoors to lure mice away from homesteads and granaries.
The santari is a seed pod with a fleshy pulp that can be mashed and mixed with water to produce a drink with a flavor that is somewhat reminiscent of almonds. The green pods can be used to make sour chutney that is poured over rice or cooked fettle.
The crustmelon is a close relative of the watermelon and is similar in appearance. The flavor, however, is much richer and less watery. Though the practice is discouraged by the royal government, farmers will often poke a small hole in the upper side of the melon, inoculate it with Zymomonas mobilis, and then plug the hole with a cork stopper. When the interior of the melon has properly fermented, the cork is removed and frivolity ensues.
These illustrations of fictional fruit were drawn using Stable Diffusion 2.1.
