Prunus domestica
A thorny broadleaf tree that plays either role - a very hard native wall or an invasive attacker whose damage climbs sharply.
Bullace plum is a heavy Broadleaf tree that fights as a thorn-backed wall: strong armor, self-healing, and spines that punish attackers. It is native to Europe and invasive across Africa, East Asia, Eastern and Western North America, Oceania, South America, and South Asia, so the arena can cast it either way - as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is a durable card whose native form is defensive and whose invasive form hits far harder than it does at home.
Its starter attack, Limb Lash, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun for about 34 damage native / 46 invasive - a plain hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Canopy Recruitment, arrives at level 25: Pushes a sapling into the canopy: heal 35% and +3 ATK. It restores health mid-fight. The advanced attack, Prune Juice, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (29 native / 34 invasive) and mends the plant as it strikes. Most of your plums sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Plum keeps two always-on traits. Thorns arrives in full on the level 10 riser: whenever an opponent lands a melee hit, a share of that damage is reflected back, so attackers wear themselves down against it. At the level 68 riser it gains Network: while benched, this canopy tree projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active. See Abilities.
Plum carries the Thorns keyword, the source of its contact recoil. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. It is non-toxic, with no hazard ring, so only its spines punish an attacker. As a native, defensive field gear reinforces its already-heavy armor; as an invasive, offensive gear makes its much larger attack count.
At level 40 plum reads 103 HP as a native and 89 as an invasive, with ATK of 16 native versus 31 invasive - a large gap, since its native attack is notably weak while its invasive attack is respectable. DEF is 26, strong for the broadleaf-tree band, so it soaks hits well. Its tempo is front-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (42) and every turn after on its slower SPD (39), so it leads early and is out-paced in a long fight. Retreat costs 15 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield; 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, plum reaches 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 28 / 64 ATK, and its DEF climbs to 59 - a broadleaf tree hardens into a heavy armored wall that blunts nearly any hit. Retreat rises to 30 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature plum is slow but very hard to kill. Maturing buys armor, the bench overshield, and a stronger Thorns bite; it costs you speed.
As a broadleaf tree, plum sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and takes only x0.667 from them, while Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) strike it for x1.5 and resist its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the trade is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play the native plum as a wall - park it, let Thorns and heavy armor turn attackers away, and use the bench overshield to protect a fragile hitter. The invasive plum is the better attacker, trading its home form's weak native attack for real damage, though its self-damaging bench cost means you commit to the aggression. It is inedible, so feeding it any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It plays as a quick skirmisher early and becomes a slow armored anchor as it grows, crossing over around level 26; higher levels only strengthen it, so there is no reason to hold it back.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plantβs 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 β native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither β with the card at its crossover and fully grown at LvΒ 100.