Citrus medica
A citron shrub with real armor that thickens further when hurt and total Burn immunity — a Competitor wall whose fruit makes it a dependable coin-earner.
Lemon is a Shrub that fights as a moderately armored, unspectacular card. It is native to South Asia and invasive across Africa, East Asia, Europe, Eastern North America, Oceania, and South America, so the arena can cast it either way — a native buffer for your bench or an invasive attacker. It is a passable card with a real edge off the battlefield: its fruit makes it a reliable coin-earner.
Its starter attack, Bramble Lash, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun for about 33 damage native / 37 invasive as a plain hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Facilitation, arrives at level 25: Shelters its own and starves the rest: heal 50%, and the foe's bench withers. The advanced attack, Thorn Wall, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (35 native / 39 invasive) and pins the target so it cannot retreat. Most of your lemons sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn.
Citron runs two always-on traits. Marcescence (level 10) gives +4 DEF at half HP or below from retained growth. Lignotuber (level 68) leaves the card immune to Burn, and healed by any Burn thrown at it. See Abilities.
It carries no trait keywords and is non-toxic, so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it: no contact recoil and no poison rider. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native buffer, defensive field gear plays to its wall lean; as an invasive, offensive gear helps its stronger attack land.
At level 40 Lemon reads 103 HP native / 89 invasive, with ATK of 19 native versus 30 invasive — a clear invasive jump. DEF is 13, mid-range in the shrub band, so it takes hits better than the soft cards though it is no tree. Its tempo is a slow start into a faster cruise: turn 1 on its initiative (32), every turn after on its SPD (34), so it is out-paced early but relentless as a fight drags on. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench overshield; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, Lemon firms into a moderate wall: 190 HP native / 165 invasive, 34 / 61 ATK, and DEF rising to 28 — as a shrub it earns some armor, short of a tree but well above the soft cards. Retreat rises to 33 Sun and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature lemon acts last against most young cards. Maturing buys real durability, and at level 68 a Lignotuber that turns fire into healing; the cost is that slow clock.
As a shrub, Lemon is in the Competitor succession group. It strikes Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, bulbs) for x1.5 and takes only x0.667 from them, but it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns), which hit it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
As a native, play Lemon as a reasonably tough buffer whose HP cushion and overshield support a stronger hitter. As an invasive it is a moderate attacker with a useful pin, better as a grinder than a finisher. Its standout is economic: it is edible with a resolved part (fruit), so feeding it Phosphorus pays x1.25 coins, while any other nutrient banks x1.25 XP instead — a dependable coin-earner. It fights as a slow skirmisher until about level 20 as a native (about 22 as an invasive), then its bulk takes over; there is no reason to hold it back from leveling.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plant’s 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 — native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither — with the card at its crossover and fully grown at Lv 100.