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Guardian Silk Tree

The guardian silk tree, also known as the golden elm, golden hedge, or mead-fruit tree, is a species of short deciduous tree. Fully grown, it stands 15 to 20 meters tall, with an average trunk diameter of 1 meter. It is known for its distinctive yellow wood, which naturally grows heavily knotted and is protected by thick and thorny bark. If the tree is properly pruned, however, the wood can grow straight and with little to no imperfections. The fruits are about 20-30 centimeters in diameter when fully ripe, with a reddish-brown color and woody appearance. However, the fruits are rarely eaten due to latex secretions from the peel and bitter, pulp-like flesh.

The leaves of the guardian silk are often used as food for silkworms. Additionally, the jagged growth of the tree makes it ideal as a hedge wall for gardens and farms. The resulting hedge is tall enough to prevent horses from jumping it, strong enough to prevent bulls from destroying it, and secure enough to prevent foxes from spilling through it. It is these two qualities which give the tree its name.

Habitat

Uses

Wood

The wood of the guardian silk grows naturally with many knots, making it difficult to cut down and process. Guardian silks grown for lumber need to be meticulously pruned to be usable. This causes the tree to grow straighter and taller, resulting in long and dense lumber with fewer knots.

The wood is remarkably dense and displays impressive strength and flexibility, as well as a natural resistance to rot. This has historically made it ideal for bow making, as the wood will bend tremendously before breaking. Similarly, it can be used for architectural purposes as support beams for houses or as treenails for houses and boats. The wood is sometimes used for walls and floorboards, though it is uncommon in taller structures where its weight is a greater concern. The wood is also often used for fence posts, tool handles, and woodwind instruments.

The wood burns exceptionally well, often considered one of the best trees for firewood due to its long and consistent burn time. The resulting fire carries a pleasant earthy aroma and steady, deep crackling.

Dye

A dye can be extracted by macerating wood chips and boiling them in water for several hours. The resulting decoction is a deep orange in color and can be used to achieve a golden-yellow color in fabrics. This type of dye is called guardian gold. It is the official color of the Fairhaven Confederacy? and is used to color its national banner.

Fruit

The fruit of the tree have a thick peel that secretes a slight amount of white latex. This latex can be used to produce rubber?, though it results in a much softer and less durable product than latex from the rubber tree?. It is sometimes used in waterproof fabric or paint due to its lower cost and the lower need of rigidity in such applications.

The flesh of the fruit can be eaten raw, but it rarely is. It has a slimy and pulp-like texture, with a taste described as "one part honey, two parts aloe, three parts sawdust."

When properly boiled, filtered, and fermented, a seedless variety of the fruit can be used to brew guardian wine, an alcoholic beverage. The amber-colored drink has a taste similar to mead with undertones reminiscent of herbal tea.

Leaves

Guardian silk leaves are the most common food for silkworms. Many silk gardens will create their walls out of guardian silk hedges to both feed the worms and keep out intruders.

Sometimes the leaves are used to create a tea that is used to treat vision deficiencies and indigestion. The link between consumption of such tea and vision improvement has never been definitively proven.

Hedge Walls

Due to naturally growing dense and thorny branches, guardian silk trees are ideal to grow around farmland. Their deep roots and dense foliage help prevent soil erosion, both directly and by acting as a windbreak. The plant also acts as an effective wall in the traditional sense, keeping farm animals in and keeping natural predators out.