Cornus officinalis
A high-HP broadleaf tree that plays only as a native buffer, the bulkiest wall in this group, with an edible fruit that pays coins.
Japanese cornel is a broadleaf tree built on bulk and armor. It is native to East Asia and holds no invasive range, so it only plays the native buffer role — there is no attacker version of it.
The starter, Whomp, unlocks at Lv 1 for 2 Sun and lands the full weight of the tree for 36 — a big single hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Nurse Log, unlocks at Lv 25: it heals 25%, evens the bench and calls back the lost. The advanced attack, Mast Bombard, arrives at Lv 40 for 6 Sun, spreading 21 across the foe's whole bench. No move carries the initiative rider. See moves.
It keeps two always-on traits. Buttress Roots, from the Lv 10 riser, makes it immune to Bind, so it can never be held in place and can always retreat. Epicormic Buds, from the Lv 68 riser, is a survival trait: about 35% of the time, an otherwise-lethal blow is shrugged off as dormant buds break under the bark, leaving it clinging at roughly 35% of its HP. It did not draw the tree line's Mycorrhiza bench-heal, so there is no 60% sustain heal here.
It holds no thorns, Toxin or Unpalatable contact-recoil trait. It is not a climber, so no Moss Pole. As a tree its armor is its main asset; a Calcium/Magnesium field gear amendment raises it further.
At Lv 40 it carries the highest HP in this group at 121 (with the +15% native cushion) and a DEF of 26, already firm. ATK is a low 16 — this is a body, not a striker. Opening tempo 33 and sustained tempo 33 are both low and nearly equal, so it is slow off the mark and slow throughout. The starter costs 2 Sun, the advanced 6, retreat 14 Sun. As a common species its bench overshield bar is a sliver. See stats.
DEF climbs from wood density to 59, a genuine wall, while HP swells to 233 and ATK to 28. Retreat rises to 29 Sun and the inverted tempo sinks to its ~1% floor — a mature copy is very slow but extremely durable. From Lv 52 it regenerates Sun in battle; at Lv 85 the starter is free.
As a broadleaf tree it is a Competitor: ×1.5 into Ruderal cards, ×0.667 into Specialists (who hit it for ×1.5), even against other Competitors and the Weird group.
This is a tank. Its huge HP, firm-and-climbing DEF and bench-healing ability let it grind down opponents while keeping the whole team alive; the trade-off is its low ATK and sluggish tempo, so it wins by attrition rather than pace — give it hitters on the bench. It is edible with the fruit as the eaten part, so Phosphorus fertilizer pays ×1.25 coins (other nutrients bank ×1.25 XP). Like most trees it is power-favored from very early — its power curve overtakes its tempo curve at about Lv 17 as a native.
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.