Acanthus ilicifolius
A firm coastal shrub that punishes attackers and, late, shrugs off fire.
Holly mangrove is a firm-bodied shrub with an ant-guard recoil and, at high level, a fire-proof lignotuber. It is native to East Asia, Oceania and South Asia and invasive nowhere the game tracks. So it plays only as a native buffer.
Its kit unlocks in three steps, so most of the time you field it below the level where the whole thing is live. The starter attack, Frère Brer, is available from level 1 for 2 Sun. It deals 30 damage. Lures it into the briar patch and feeds.
At level 25 it gains a free, once-per-battle ability, Arrested Succession: Stops the forest before it starts β the foe stalls and can't heal. It costs no Sun β its price is that you get one use per fight.
The advanced attack, Thicket, arrives at level 40 for 6 Sun, dealing 35 damage. Hems the foe in.
See Moves and Abilities for how the slots and Sun costs work.
A card keeps at most two always-on traits β drawn deterministically, with the rest of its category pool dropped for good. This one draws two, and they arrive at different levels:
Those are the only two it holds; everything else in its category's pool was passed over. See Abilities for the full trait list.
It carries no special keyword chips β it is not tagged toxic or thorned, and it is not a climber, so a Moss Pole does not fit it.
As a hard-bodied card it makes good use of a Calcium/Magnesium soil amendment, which adds flat DEF on top of its already-solid armor. See Field gear for the amendments and how they attach.
Numbers here are read at level 40, where every slot is unlocked. It reads 13 DEF and retreats for 16 Sun.
It is slow off the mark (opening initiative 29) but faster in the long exchange (sustained Speed 34 from turn two).
As a native it carries a +15% HP cushion (103 HP), and while it sits on your bench it projects a green HP overshield onto your active, sized by its rarity. It is invasive nowhere, so it never plays as an attacker β it is a buffer.
The overshield, the Sun economy and damage-as-a-ratio are explained on Stats.
By level 100 it firms up without becoming a tree: HP reaches 190 and its mid-band armor 28 DEF, while ATK climbs to 44. Retreat rises to 33 Sun and its tempo sinks toward its floor.
In the succession chart its category, Shrub, is a Competitor. It deals Γ1.5 damage to annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs, but succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes hit it for Γ1.5 and resist its attacks in return (Γ0.667). Against everything else it is neutral.
The full wheel is on Weaknesses & resistances.
It plays as a sturdy mid-armor buffer that makes attackers bleed, though its own damage is unremarkable. Best anchoring a bench rather than carrying an offense.
It has no resolved edible part, so any fertilizer you feed it banks Γ1.25 XP rather than coins β treat it as a growth boost.
One note on leveling: it fights as a faster skirmisher until about level 18, after which its growing bulk and attack take over as the dominant edge. It is stronger overall at higher levels β turn order is only a small lever β so there is no reason to hold it back.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plantβs tempo (SPD + INI, the turn-order edge) fades as it grows, while its power (HP + ATK + DEF, net of the rising Sun cost to retreat) climbs. The crossover is the level where power overtakes tempo: below it the plant is a fast skirmisher, above it a heavyweight. Shown for each stance this plant can actually hold β native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither β with the card at its crossover and fully grown at LvΒ 100.