Frangula rubra
A modestly armored Western North American native shrub with low attack that plates up when hurt and cannot be Burned — best kept as a bench card.
Red buckhorn is a Shrub that fights as a low-damage, moderately armored native. It is native to Western North America and has no invasive form, so the arena only ever fields it as a native buffer for your bench (see nativity). It is a weak card on attack, leaning on modest armor and economy — plus low-HP plating and complete immunity to Burn.
Its starter attack, Berry, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 27 damage — a plain hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Thicket Formation, arrives at level 25: Closes into thicket — Bind, and the foe can't heal. The advanced attack, Thorn Wall, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (35 damage) and saps the target, withering it as it strikes. Most of your copies sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn.
Red buckhorn runs a trait on both risers. Marcescence (level 10) gives +4 DEF once at or below half HP. Lignotuber (level 68) is the chaparral fire response: the card is immune to Burn and healed whenever one is applied. See Abilities.
It carries no trait keywords and no status chemistry beyond its sap move, so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic, with no hazard ring. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear that builds on its armor suits its slow, tanky role.
At level 40 it reads 103 HP with ATK of only 17 — a low value, so its damage is minimal. DEF is 13, in the upper part of the shrub band, so it is fairly hard to hurt for a card of its size. Its tempo is a slow start into a faster cruise: turn 1 runs on its lower initiative (32) and later turns on its higher SPD (34), so it is out-paced early but steadier once a fight settles. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, it climbs to 190 HP and 30 ATK, and as a woody shrub its DEF reaches 28 — a genuinely armored body, though its attack stays low. Retreat rises to 33 Sun and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so it acts late. Maturing buys durability, not damage.
As a shrub it is in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants for ×1.5 and is struck for only ×0.667 by them; it is weak to Specialist plants, which hit it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group are neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play it as a native bench wall whose armor, HP cushion and overshield help a stronger active survive; it is not a card you want out front, since it cannot threaten much damage. Its usefulness is capped by low attack and the absent ability. Its value is economic: it is inedible, so any nutrient banks ×1.25 XP toward leveling. It fights as a slow skirmisher until about level 22, after which its bulk carries it — 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.