Punga fruit

Punga fruit refers to three consumable items .
==Background==
Punga is an edible type of fruit endemic to the Point Lookout area, obtained from mutated bushes growing in the warm, moist climate of the regional swamps. The largest plant of this type, the Mother Punga, demonstrates just how well adapted the plant is to the post-nuclear environment of Point Lookout.
The plant has one or more main stems without leaves, from which branches develop which carry the leaves themselves. Punga fruit plants flower at a single point at the terminus of their stems, gradually developing into large, fleshy fruits with yellow-brown, rough and thick skin. Apart from excellent nutrition, the fruit has unique properties that enable it to remove radiation from the body and boost its natural healing abilities. The same substances that make that possible also make it highly addictive.Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.77: "Jackson [Point Lookout]""Jackson wasn't born with 'the look.' While a young man, however, he discovered a strange device in the wreckage of a ship. While examining it, he inadvertently activated a long-dormant power source connected to a holographic head. Jackson, deeply superstitious, interpreted this event as the manifestation of a powerful spirit. Jackson would return here with increasing frequency to 'commune' with the spirit. This disembodied head, in reality, is a sentient person. During Jackson's séance encounters, he would be given instructions.Thanks to the efforts of followers who slowly began appearing in Jackson's presence, along with the piecemeal guidance he passes along from his 'visions' of the brain, the tribe has set up a surprisingly effective hydroponics system to grow large quantities of Punga fruit. This harvest, thanks to Tobar's service as a trader, draws a steady trickle of fresh blood into the area, thanks in large part to the addictive properties of the plant. These entrepreneurs and addicts often wind up inducted as new tribe members."(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census) The fruits also contain edible seeds, which, if left to gestate, eventually break the skin of the ripe fruit and emerge on stems growing from the core of the fruit, allowing the plant to proliferate.Mother Punga appearance
The punga fruit's properties led to it being used by local tribals under the leadership of Jackson. Having set up a sophisticated hydroponics farm in the Ark & Dove Cathedral, he was able to generate a crop surplus and create a selectively bred derivative. Exporting the crop across the Atlantic coast through Tobar, they are able to secure income as well as a steady trickle of new converts, seeking more fruit to fuel their addiction. Punga fruit are also exported to the Pitt.Harris sells punga fruit.
Some Point Lookout locals also managed to develop ways of using the punga-derived commodities, like alcoholic beverages.A Spoonful of Whiskey Punga fruit also contains electrolytes that allow it to become a battery with the right electrodes inserted into the flesh, much like pre-War lemon batteries.Desmond Lockheart's experiment at the Calvert Mansion
Punga thrives near human remains.Point Lookout tribal: "You will feed the Punga!"(Point Lookout tribal's dialogue)Punga can often be seen growing dense near human remains or places of death.
==Variants==
===Wild punga fruit===
Wild punga bushes can be identified by their ovate leaves with a serrated margin and acute tips and the large fruit they carry. The plant has one or more main stems without leaves, from which branches develop which carry the leaves themselves. Punga fruit plants flower at a single point at the terminus of their stems, gradually developing into large, fleshy fruits with yellow/brown, thick skin. They are common throughout Point Lookout, due to the unique conditions offered by the swamps, and the further unique function of scrubbing radiation from the system and healing at the same time.
===Refined punga fruit===
A cultivar of the wild punga fruit, developed by Jackson and his tribe. Grown in hydroponic farms at the Ark & Dove Cathedral, the "refined" punga fruit benefits greatly from the stable supply of water and fertilizer. The plant has a lighter green color than its wild cousin, while its fruit is bigger and generally softer to the touch. Their nutritional qualities are also improved.
===Punga seeds===
Edible seeds produced by the Mother Punga plant, they have potent hallucinogenic properties and are taken as a rite of passage in tribal customs. In appearance, they are black, rounded pods with the white seeds clearly visible inside.
==Behind the scenes==
* Punga fruit, while fictional, was inspired by the Buddha's hand fruit from East Asia.Fallout 4 Point Lookout Mod with Joel Burgess and Nate Purkeypile (57:50)Joel Burgess: "I went to a produce market, and I picked up a Buddha's hand, which is this type of lemon that has these sort of tentacle-like tips on it. So you could just google 'Buddha's hand lemon' or whatever, and so I just had one or two of those in the office and that ended up becoming the reference, so when you see it next to this, you'll realize it gets pretty direct."
* Though they do not appear in Fallout 76, a punga fruit plant appears in concept art for an earlier version of the game's mutations mechanic. It is depicted as one of the possible triggers for player mutations.
==Gallery==
Punga Power.png|As depicted in Punga Power!
Point Lookout Tribals logo.png|Logo of the Point Lookout tribals
Chris-ortega-player-mutations-chris.jpg|Fallout 76 concept art depicting a punga fruit plant
==References==
Non-game
Category:Food
Category:Flora
es:Punga
ru:Панга