Prunus japonica
A native-only broadleaf tree that punishes attackers with thorns and, late in its growth, heals a benched ally — a slow, sturdy support card.
Chinese bush cherry is a woody Broadleaf tree that fights as a slow, durable bench-support tree: it punishes whatever hits it with thorns and, deep into its leveling, mends an ally from the bench. It is native to East Asia and no invasive card exists — the arena only ever fields it as a native buffer for your team. It is a middling card whose worth is defensive and economic rather than fast or hard-hitting.
Its starter attack, Limb Lash, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and slams a heavy branch down for about 36 damage. The free once-per-battle ability, Climax Community, arrives at level 25: The forest as it ends up: heal 70% and +5 ATK. The advanced attack, Out on a Limb, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (36 native) and casts deep shade that saps the foe. Most of your bush cherries sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.
Chinese bush cherry carries two always-on traits that come in on separate risers. Its thorns arrive at full strength on the level 10 riser — the combat effect is detailed under Features. Its second trait, Mycorrhiza, arrives on the level 68 riser: when it fires it heals a benched ally, but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so treat it as a coin-flip bonus rather than a dependable heal. See Abilities.
Chinese bush cherry holds the thorns keyword, so every damaging hit it takes deals flat HP recoil back to the attacker, off its physical armature; because thorns matures at level 10, that recoil is at full strength from the start rather than halved. It is non-toxic, so nothing chemical punishes an attacker beyond the thorns. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, general defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium/magnesium amendment for a little extra DEF — suits its slow, punishing game.
At level 40 Chinese bush cherry reads 103 HP and 18 ATK. DEF is 26, up in the broadleaf-tree band where a tree forms a real wall, so it soaks hits far better than any herb or grass — damage is diminishing armor (ATK ÷ (ATK+DEF)), not flat subtraction, so that DEF matters more the harder it is hit. Its tempo runs on initiative (41) on turn 1 and on SPD (38) every turn after; as a heavy tree it moves on a slow clock either way, so it tends to act after lighter, younger cards. Retreat costs 14 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, Chinese bush cherry climbs to 190 HP and 31 ATK, and unlike a soft herb its DEF reaches 59 — a broadleaf tree keeps building its armor wall, so a mature bush cherry is genuinely hard to dent. Retreat rises to 29 Sun as it roots in, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so it acts last against almost anything young. Maturing buys it a fortress of bulk and armor at the cost of ever moving first.
As a broadleaf tree, Chinese bush cherry sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play Chinese bush cherry as a native wall and bench support: its tree-tier DEF and HP cushion let it stand up front while its overshield — and, late, its Mycorrhiza heal — keep the rest of your team alive. Its damage is unremarkable, so it works as an anchor, not a finisher. On economy, it is an edible fruit plant, so feeding it Phosphorus pays ×1.25 coins, while any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP instead. It fights as a slow, sturdy skirmisher whose bulk and attack take over around level 25 — but it is always stronger at higher levels in raw stats, 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.