Hibiscus moscheutos
A native-only wetland herb with even tempo and low damage, played as a modest bench buffer.
Swamp rose-mallow is a low Perennial herb that fights as a self-healing, even-tempo skirmisher. It is native to Eastern North America and has no invasive form, so the arena only ever plays it as a native buffer - there is no attacker version. It is one of the weaker cards here: low damage and almost no armor, leaning on Resprout to hang on.
Its starter attack, Herbal Draught, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 28 damage - a plain strike. The free once-per-battle ability, Alkaloid Reservoir, comes in at level 25: Empties a season of alkaloids into the foe — saturating Poison. The advanced attack, Perennial Problem, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (about 41 damage) - another plain hit. Most of your mallows sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.
Mallow keeps a single always-on trait: Resprout. Because it draws only one eligible trait, Resprout arrives at half strength on the level 10 riser and matures on the level 68 one. When it fires it lets the plant survive one otherwise-lethal hit at roughly a quarter health, but it triggers only about 60% of the time - a coin-flip reprieve, not a guarantee. See Abilities.
Mallow carries no special trait keywords - no thorns, no toxin trait, no spore chemistry - so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic, showing no hazard ring. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native it only plays defense, so defensive field gear helps offset its thin armor and light hits.
At level 40 mallow reads 103 HP with ATK of just 20 - low even for a soft herb. Because there is no invasive card, it never gains trait-sourced ATK. DEF is 1, at the floor of the perennial-herb band, so it takes hits with essentially no armor. Its tempo is even - the same off the mark as in a long fight - with initiative (52) and SPD (52) at the same value, both reasonably brisk, so it at least keeps pace early. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield, and it never pays the invasive attacker's Faustian self-damage or extra prizes. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, mallow reaches 190 HP and 36 ATK, but its DEF only climbs to 2 - as a soft herb it banks bulk in health, almost none in armor, so it stays fragile and low-damage against any real hitter. Retreat rises to 23 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature mallow acts last against almost anything young. See Stats.
As a perennial herb, mallow 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. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Mallow is honestly a weak, collectible-leaning card: its low ATK means it rarely wins a trade, so its best use is as a bench buffer for the +15% HP cushion and overshield while a stronger ally does the fighting, or as a cheap body to stall. It is inedible, so any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins - grow it for stats. It keeps even pace early and gains health as it climbs, crossing over around level 38; higher levels always help, so keep leveling it even though it never becomes a heavy hitter.
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.