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Copperleaf

Shrub type: Deciduous (Stores water in the thickened base of its stem)

This short shrub grows up to 1 foot (30.5 cm) tall and lives for around 47 years. It is somewhat resistant to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has several wide, straight stems covered in paper-thin, cracked, copper-coloured bark, and the wood inside is brown.

The branches trail down to the ground with thousands of twigs that and are covered with large amounts of giant, pleated, leaves with jagged edges. The leaves themselves are either peach or slate, with red splotches, durable and waxy.

In late summer it produces many small, lilac blossoms with many layers of petals with a trumpet-shaped floral cup. They are hardy and have a delicate scent that smells like cotton.

In mid-autumn spherical fruits ripen. The sticky indigo skin is peel-able and edible when boiled; it is salty, and the very soft indigo flesh is bitter and spicy and very dry. The cream seed is large and sits at the top of the fruit.

It only grows on the most fertile lands.
It comes in 10 varieties, each with a different leaf colour.
It is suitable for making paper