Cornus mas
A hard-hitting shrub with strong ATK, a coin-earning fruit crop that also heals your bench when it falls; plays either arena role.
Cornelian cherry is a Shrub that fights as an aggressive mid-armor body: solid ATK, decent DEF, extra plating once it is hurt, and a fruit crop that heals your bench when it dies. It is native to Europe and invasive in eastern North America, so the arena can cast it as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. Its damage is among the highest of the shrubs here, and it doubles as a reliable coin plant, so it earns its slot even without an ability.
Most of your Cornelian cherries sit below level 40, so the unlock levels matter. The starter attack, Bramblemaze, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 29 damage native / 31 invasive — a plain hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Shrubland Sere, arrives at level 25: Settles the slope: heal 35%, and the foe withers. — it sharpens the plant's own ATK. The advanced attack, Fruit Drop Kick, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (26 native / 28 invasive) and can pin the target in place. None of its moves seize the initiative. See Moves.
Cornelian cherry holds two working traits, and the second is named for the thing this plant is actually grown for. Marcescence (level 10) hardens it as it fails — +4 DEF once at half HP or below. Drupe Mast (level 68) drops the crop on its knockout, healing every surviving ally 8% of that ally's max HP. See Abilities.
It carries no trait keywords and is non-toxic: no contact recoil, no poison rider, 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 that pads DEF or HP helps it hold the line; as an invasive, favor offense to press its strong ATK.
At level 40 it reads 121 HP native / 106 invasive, with ATK of 23 native versus 29 invasive — a strong base with a real invasive edge. DEF is 12, a solid mid-band shrub value, so it trades from a durable body. Its tempo is a quick start into a slower cruise: turn 1 leads on its initiative (35), then it is out-paced on its SPD (20). Retreat costs 14 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a benched HP overshield onto your active; as an invasive it pays self-damage to its own bench on damaging attacks and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, it climbs toward an armored wall: 233 HP native / 203 invasive and 42 / 56 ATK, with DEF reaching 24 — a real defensive number to pair with its offense. Retreat rises to 29 Sun and tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so it acts near-last. Maturing buys armor and higher damage, but never a passive. See Stats.
As a shrub it is in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and is struck for only x0.667 by them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which hit it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group are neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play the invasive as a straightforward aggressor: buff its ATK, pin the target and trade hard from a durable shrub body. As a native it is a capable buffer thanks to its DEF, HP cushion and bench overshield. Its lack of a passive is its main weakness, but its damage covers for it. It is an edible fruit plant, so feeding it Phosphorus pays x1.25 coins (any other nutrient banks x1.25 XP instead), making it a dependable coin-earner. It opens fast and leans on its bulk as it levels, with the crossover around level 12 native (or 14 invasive) — higher levels are always stronger, so there is no reason to hold it back.
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.