Hetaeria oblongifolia
A soft native jewel orchid in the Specialist group that beats Competitor plants, can never be Bound, and carries an overshield bar of its own from level 68.
Hairy jewel orchid is a Epiphyte that fights as a soft native skirmisher with average damage and paper-thin armor. It is native to East Asia, Oceania and South Asia, and no invasive card exists, so it plays only as a native buffer. As a Specialist it has a real edge over the common Competitor cards, and it is never pinned — Canopy Anchorage refuses Bound outright — with an overshield bar of its own from level 68.
Its starter attack, Tug, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 30 damage as a native. The free once-per-battle ability, Canopy Soil, arrives at level 25: A whole soil built in the branches: heal 65% and +4 ATK. The advanced attack, Epiphyte Mat, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (24 native) and binds the target in place. Most of your hairy jewel orchid sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Hairy jewel orchid runs a working trait on each riser. Canopy Anchorage (level 10) is the aerial-root grip that gives it total immunity to Bound — nothing can pin this card in place. Tank Reservoir (level 68) means it supplies its own HP overshield bar rather than waiting on a benched native to project one. See Abilities.
Hairy jewel orchid is non-toxic, so there is no contact recoil and no poison rider — striking it costs an attacker nothing. Despite being an epiphyte, its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium/magnesium amendment for a little DEF — helps offset its almost nonexistent armor. See statuses.
At level 40 hairy jewel orchid reads 103 HP with ATK of 25. DEF is just 2, at the soft floor of the epiphyte band, so it takes hits with almost no armor and must end fights quickly. Its tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on a low initiative (26) so it is out-paced off the mark, but every turn after runs on a higher SPD (34), so it grows quicker as a fight goes on. 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, hairy jewel orchid swells to 190 HP and 45 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 3 — as a soft epiphyte it buys bulk in health and almost none in armor, so it stays exposed to any real hitter. Retreat rises to 33 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature orchid acts last against almost anything younger.
As an epiphyte, hairy jewel orchid sits in the Specialist succession group. It hits Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, broadleaf trees) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Specialists and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play hairy jewel orchid as a native buffer with a matchup edge: bench it for the HP cushion and overshield, and bring it out against Competitor cards — the shrubs, perennial herbs and trees that make up most of the field — where its ×1.5 lets its average attack punch above its weight. Its armor is so thin that it must win quickly or fold, so treat it as a situational pick and collection piece. On economy, it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a fragile, back-loaded skirmisher that leans on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 19 — but it is always stronger at higher levels, 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.