Impatiens capensis
An annual forb that fills either role — an Eastern North American native buffer or a European invader — leaning on tempo and its bench rather than heavy armor.
Jewelweed is an annual Annual forb that fights as a light attacker with a supportive streak: a slow-building opener, an even tempo, and a defence that borrows from your bench. It is native to Eastern North America and invasive across Europe, so the arena can field it either way — as a native buffer or as an invasive attacker. Its armor is minimal, so it wins by tempo and its team, not by soaking hits.
Its starter attack, Yolo, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun; it is a pioneer-spread ramp with no fixed damage number — it hits harder each time it lands. The free once-per-battle ability, Disclimax, arrives at level 25: Holds the ground open — the foe stalls and withers. The advanced attack, Scatterseed, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun, dealing about 25 damage as a native and 27 as an invasive. Most of your jewelweed sit below level 40, where only the starter is live. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Jewelweed keeps two always-on traits. Duff Stuff arrives on the level 10 riser: while it is your active plant, its effective DEF rises by half the summed DEF of your alive benched ruderals — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — recomputed live, so the bonus fades as those allies faint, while the donors keep their own DEF. It is a real, always-on defence, not a chance effect. Reseed arrives later, on the level 68 riser: when it is knocked out, a fresh Seedling token steps up in its place — the annual-forb signature. See Abilities.
Jewelweed's toxicity is rated mild, but it did not draw the Toxin trait, so striking it does not poison the attacker — there is no contact recoil. It still forces a Poison rider onto its own attack and still shows the hazard ring, so it is never "safe" to handle. 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 — offsets its thin armor; as an invasive, offensive gear pushes its aggression. See statuses.
At level 40 jewelweed reads 65 HP native and 57 invasive, with ATK of 26 native versus 32 invasive — the invasive gap is real, though its raw attack stays modest. DEF is just 1, at the soft floor of the annual-forb band, so it takes hits with almost no armor and relies on Duff Stuff and its bench to firm up. Its tempo is even: turn 1 runs on its initiative (56) and every turn after on its SPD (56), which match, so it is neither a fast opener nor a fast cruiser. Retreat costs 11 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, jewelweed swells to 103 HP native / 90 invasive and 48 / 63 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 1 — as a soft forb it buys bulk in health and almost none in armor, so it stays exposed to any real hitter. Retreat rises to 19 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature jewelweed acts last against almost anything younger.
As a ruderal annual forb, Jewelweed sits in the Ruderal succession group. It hits Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, trees, vines), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Ruderals and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play Jewelweed two ways. As a native it is a buffer: keep other ruderals benched so Duff Stuff can prop up its armor, and lean on the HP cushion and overshield it projects onto your active. As an invasive it is an attacker: its higher ATK (32 versus 26 native) lets it push damage, though it pays self-damage to its own bench on each hit and hands the enemy 2 prizes if it falls. On economy, jewelweed is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as an even-tempo skirmisher leaning harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 52 as a native and 53 as an invasive — 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.