Rhus aromatica
A hardy spreading shrub-herb that hits harder than most in this set, playing native buffer or a strong invasive attacker.
Fragrant sumac is a tough, spreading Perennial herb that fights as an above-average attacker with a self-heal. It is native to both Eastern and Western North America and invasive in East Asia and Europe, so the arena can cast it either way — as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is one of the harder hitters in this batch: its ATK is strong for its class and its invasive form pushes it higher still. See nativity.
Its starter attack, Herbal Draught, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun for about 30 damage native / 30 invasive — a plain hit with no rider. The free once-per-battle ability, Alkaloid Reservoir, arrives at level 25: Empties a season of alkaloids into the foe — saturating Poison. Its advanced attack, Herbaceous Assault, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (33 / 33) as another straight, hard hit. Most of your specimens sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. See moves.
Fragrant sumac keeps a single always-on trait: Resprout. It draws only one eligible trait, so Resprout comes in at half strength on the level 10 riser and matures on the level 68 one. When it works it lets the plant survive one otherwise-lethal hit at roughly a quarter health, but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so treat it as a coin-flip reprieve rather than a guarantee. See abilities.
It carries no trait keywords — no thorns, no toxin — so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it, and it is non-toxic with no hazard ring. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear helps its soft frame hold; as an invasive, offensive gear leans into its already strong ATK.
At level 40 it reads 103 HP native / 89 invasive, with ATK of 26 native versus 27 invasive — a strong figure for a herb-class card, and clearly better in the aggressive role. DEF is just 4, low in the perennial-herb band, so despite the punch it takes hits with almost no armor. Its tempo is uneven: turn 1 runs on a modest initiative (32), so it is out-paced off the mark, but every turn after runs on a higher SPD (34), so it grows relentless in a long fight. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and projects 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 it swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 49 / 50 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 8 — as a soft herb it gains bulk in health and almost no armor, so it stays a glassy hitter even at the cap. Retreat rises to 33 Sun and its tempo sinks to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature plant acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys HP and damage, never toughness.
As a spreading herb-shrub it sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and is struck for only x0.667 by them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which hit it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
As an invasive, this is a strong pick: its high ATK plus a self-heal make it a durable aggressor that trades up against most of its class, especially into Ruderal targets it beats. As a native, it works as a hard-hitting bench card whose cushion and overshield support a partner, though its thin DEF means it prefers to attack rather than absorb. Watch out for Specialist walls and fast Ruderal openers. Its value is also economic: it is inedible, so any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It fights as a slow-opening skirmisher whose bulk takes over as it levels, crossing around level 22 — always stronger in raw stats higher up, so never 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.