Philodendron erubescens
A native-only South American aroid with a bench-splashing, pinning, poisoning advanced attack and two passives that grind the enemy active down every checkup, though its armor is paper-thin.
Blushing philodendron is a fragile Vine that fights as a poison-and-pin harasser. It is native to South America, and the arena only ever casts it as a native buffer for your bench; no invasive attacker card exists, so it supports rather than closes. Its damage is low and its armor is almost nothing, but its status effects can make an enemy miserable, so it is a niche disruption card rather than a strong one.
Its starter attack, Creeping Spread, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and lands a plain hit for about 21 damage. The free once-per-battle ability, Competitive Exclusion, arrives at level 25: Leaves no room at all — the foe stalls and withers. It leaves poison on the target. The advanced attack, Thigmo-Trap, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun and is its signature move: about 21 damage that also splashes the enemy bench, pins the active in place, and poisons it. Most of your specimens 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 and statuses.
Blushing philodendron holds two working traits, and they stack into steady passive pressure. Thermogenesis (level 10) puts a Burn on the enemy active every checkup. Putrescine Aura (level 68) adds 2% of that plant's max HP in chip damage each checkup, ignoring DEF and the overshield. Between them this card grinds an opponent down without spending a single turn on it. See Abilities.
It carries no trait keywords, and despite the family's reputation it holds no in-game toxin trait, so it shows no hazard ring and its contact deals no recoil; the poison it applies comes from its attacks, not from being touched. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear such as a Cloche helps it survive long enough to land its status attack.
At level 40 it reads 103 HP and 15 ATK. DEF is just 6, at the rock-bottom floor of its band, so it is knocked around by almost anything. Tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (34) and later turns on its SPD (39), so it is out-paced off the mark but grows relentless the longer it stays in. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield bar onto your active. Link Stats.
Matured to level 100, it swells to 190 HP and 25 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 10 — it stays essentially unarmored no matter how high you take it, so it always dies fast to a real hitter. Retreat rises to 23 Sun and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap. Maturing buys a bigger health pool to keep landing status attacks, and nothing more.
As a carrion aroid it sits in the off-wheel Weird group, which is neutral both ways: it takes no succession bonus against any group and suffers no succession penalty from any, so every matchup rides on raw stats and status effects. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play it as a disruptor: lead with the starter to stack poison, then land the advanced attack to pin the active, poison it, and chip its bench all at once, buying time for a real attacker on your side. As a native, its cushion and bench overshield make it a passable support even though it cannot trade blows. Its value is also economic: it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks x1.25 XP toward levels. It fights as a fast skirmisher until about level 26, then its bulk takes over, so leveling it is worthwhile.
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.