Impatiens noli-tangere
A quick-opening annual-forb buffer that pools armour from its benched ruderals and pins its target — a widespread native with no invasive form, so a defensive piece only.
Jewelweed is a soft Annual forb that fights as a bench-fed buffer, drawing armour from the ruderals behind it while pinning what it hits. It is native across East Asia, Europe, North America and South Asia, where it plays a native buffer; no invasive form of this species exists, so it is only ever a defensive piece. Its attack is fair, and it leads off the mark before slipping behind in a long fight.
Its starter attack, Cultivate, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 33 damage. The free once-per-battle ability, Ruderal Rush, arrives at level 25: Weedy haste — a burst of speed, kept for the match. The advanced attack, Ragweed Burst, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (49 damage) and pins the target in place as it strikes. Most of your jewelweed sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. 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 its effective DEF rises by half the combined DEF of your still-standing benched ruderals — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — recomputed every turn, so the cushion shrinks as those allies faint, and the donors keep their own armour. It is a real, always-on defence, not a chance effect. Reseed arrives on the level 68 riser: when the plant is knocked out, a fresh Seedling token steps up in its place. See Abilities.
Jewelweed is non-toxic: it holds no Toxin trait, so striking it costs an attacker nothing in contact recoil and it lays no poison. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium or magnesium amendment for a little DEF — helps offset its thin armour. See statuses.
At level 40 jewelweed reads 103 HP with ATK of 28, a fair figure for a ruderal. DEF is just 1, at the soft floor of the annual-forb band, so it takes hits with almost no armour of its own and depends on the pooled Duff Stuff bonus instead. Its tempo tilts toward the opening: turn 1 runs on its initiative (52), which slightly outpaces the SPD (51) it uses on every turn after, so it leads off the mark but drifts behind in a long fight. Retreat costs 12 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, jewelweed swells to 190 HP and 50 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 1 — as a soft forb it buys bulk in health and almost none in armour, so it stays exposed to any real hitter and still leans on its bench for defence. Retreat rises to 24 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature jewelweed acts last against almost anything younger.
As an annual forb, jewelweed sits in the Ruderal succession group. It hits Specialist plants — succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes — for ×1.5 while taking only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Competitor plants — perennial herbs, shrubs and trees — which strike it for ×1.5 and shrug off its blows. Against other Ruderals and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play jewelweed as a native buffer: keep a bench of other ruderals behind it so Duff Stuff can prop up its armour, use its opening initiative to land the first pin, and let its pooled defence carry it through trades above its own DEF. It is a modest card overall, best as support rather than a finisher. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a quick-opening buffer that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 36 — 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.