Conocarpus erectus
A heavily armored coastal tree that walls up and buffs the bench as a native, or hits harder as an invader.
Button mangrove is a Broadleaf tree that fights as a heavy defensive tree: some of the best armor in its band, a fair hit, and bench support from the canopy. It is native to Africa, Eastern and Western North America, and South America, and invasive in Europe, Oceania, and South Asia, so the arena can field it either way — a native wall and buffer or an invasive attacker with more punch. It is a strong defensive card in either role.
Its starter attack, Acorn Drop, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and lands a plain hit of about 28 damage native / 29 invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Leaf Litter, arrives at level 25: Buries the ground in litter — the foe's whole bench withers. The advanced attack, Crown Shade, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (35 native / 37 invasive) and saps the target as it strikes. Most of your button mangroves sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. See Moves.
Button mangrove keeps two always-on traits, one per riser. Network arrives on the level 10 riser and, as a canopy tree, projects a gold Sun overshield bar from the bench onto your active plant. Mycorrhiza arrives on the level 68 riser and heals a benched ally, though it fires only about 60% of the time. Together they make it an excellent bench anchor. See Abilities.
It carries no special trait keywords and is non-toxic, so an attacker takes no recoil or poison for hitting it. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear stacks onto its already heavy armor; as an invasive, offensive gear makes its higher attack count.
At level 40 it reads 103 HP native / 89 invasive and 27 / 31 ATK — a meaningful invasive uplift on top of a body that already trades well. DEF is 36, near the top of the broadleaf-tree band, so it soaks hits better than most. Its tempo is front-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (35) and later turns on its SPD (34), so it leads early then slows only slightly. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a benched HP overshield for your active; as an invasive it draws its higher ATK from traits but pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. Link Stats.
Matured to level 100, Button mangrove becomes one of the hardest walls around: 190 / 165 HP, 50 / 61 ATK, and DEF reaching 85 — as a tree it pours late growth into armor as much as health, so it is extremely hard to drop. Retreat rises to 33 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature tree acts last. Maturing buys a near-impassable body at the cost of all speed.
As a broadleaf tree it sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them, but it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play Button mangrove as a premier native wall and bench anchor: it holds the front line, feeds a Sun overshield, and heals your active from the bench. As an invasive it also trades hard thanks to its high armor and boosted attack, making it a rare tree that both defends and hits. It is inedible, so any nutrient banks ×1.25 XP rather than coins — a steady leveler. It opens quick and becomes a fortress as it grows, crossing over around level 18 as a native (about 20 as an invasive) — always stronger at higher levels, so keep leveling it.
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.