Cornus alba
A moderately armored shrub that buffs its own attack, saps the target, taxes anything that strikes it and cannot be Burned — an Asian and European native or a North American invader.
White dogwood is a mid-armored Shrub that fights on its moves rather than its passives: reasonable damage for its class, a self-buff, and a sapping hit. It is native to East Asia and Europe and invasive in Eastern North America, so the arena can cast it either way — as a native buffer or as an invasive attacker. It is a serviceable card, best used as an aggressor when cast invasive.
Its starter attack, Bramblemaze, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 29 damage as a native and 31 as an invasive — a straightforward hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Facilitation, comes in at level 25: Shelters its own and starves the rest: heal 50%, and the foe's bench withers. It raises the plant's own attack, so it rewards being played early in a fight. The advanced attack, Fruit Drop Kick, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (27 native / 29 invasive) and saps the target as it hits. Most of your dogwoods sit below level 40, where only the starter move is available.
White dogwood holds two working traits. Extrafloral Nectaries (level 10) charges every attacker 3% of its own max HP on contact, bypassing DEF and shields. Lignotuber (level 68) leaves the card immune to Burn, with an applied Burn turning into healing. See Abilities.
White dogwood carries no special trait keywords and is non-toxic: no contact recoil and no poison rider on being struck, so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear suits a buffering role; as an invasive, offensive gear stacks with its self-buff to make its aggression bite.
At level 40 white dogwood reads 121 HP as a native and 106 as an invasive, with ATK of 24 native versus 30 invasive — a meaningful invasive edge. DEF is 12, in the middle shrub band, so it takes hits better than a herb but is no wall. Its tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (32) and every turn after on a higher SPD (38), so it firms up after the opening. Retreat costs 14 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield onto your active; as an invasive it pays self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, white dogwood grows to 233 HP native / 203 invasive and 43 / 58 ATK, with DEF reaching 24 — as a shrub it lands between a soft herb and a tree, gaining moderate armor rather than a full wall. Retreat rises to 29 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature dogwood is slow but reasonably tough. Maturing buys bulk without ever restoring first-mover speed.
As a shrub, white dogwood is in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants, 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 white dogwood as an attacker, especially when cast invasive: open with its self-buff, then lean on the sapping advanced hit while its extra shrub armor keeps it alive. As a native it buffers well, and its contact tax means the plant attacking your wall is paying for the privilege. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP rather than coins, a steady growth investment. It firms up as a cruiser and gains modest bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 19, 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.