Rhus chinensis
A shrub that buffers on its native turf and attacks where it is invasive.
The Chinese sumac is a shrub in Supplant. It is native to East Asia, Oceania and South Asia and invasive in Europe, so it can take whichever role the arena hands it β a defensive buffer on its home turf, or an aggressive attacker where it counts as an introduced weed.
Its kit fills in across three slots, and most of your copies will be well below the snapshot level of 40 where all three are live β the plant unlocks them as it grows. Hedge Hammer is the starter attack, available from level 1 for 2 Sun. The free once-per-battle ability, Shrubland Sere, unlocks at level 25: Settles the slope: heal 35%, and the foe withers. The advanced attack, Bramble Scramble, comes online at level 40 for 6 Sun β Two passes through the brambles.
As a native its attacks land for about 31 (starter) and 40 (advanced); as an invasive those rise to 32 and 40 as the introduced-range aggression matures.
Turn order splits across two stats: initiative (42) decides who moves first on turn 1, and SPD (34) decides every turn after. This one is the quicker starter β it tends to land the opening blow on turn 1, then cede the pace as the fight wears on. See turn order for how the two interact.
Chinese sumac holds two working traits. Marcescence (level 10) converts retained dead growth into +4 DEF at or below half HP. Drupe Mast (level 68) makes its dense fruiting spike a parting heal of 8% max HP for each surviving ally. See Abilities.
For field gear, a Calcium/Magnesium amendment adds flat DEF (most worthwhile on a bulky front-liner, least on a soft body), and the N/P/K fertilizers drive its economy (see Gameplay uses). This species is not Moss-Pole-eligible: that gear is keyed on a climbing growth habit (vine, epiphyte or hemiepiphyte), and its species record carries no growth-habit tag. Played native, favor defensive gear; played invasive, favor anything that pushes its attack.
At the snapshot level (40) it reads roughly HP 103, DEF 13, with a retreat cost of 16 Sun and tempo pips of 42 initiative / 34 SPD. Its DEF sits in the firm shrub band β better than a weed, well short of a tree. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects a green HP overshield bar onto your active. As an invasive its ATK rises toward 24 (against 23 native), and it pays "Faustian" self-damage to its own bench on every damaging hit it lands. Sun refills at +1 every 15 minutes up to a cap of 120; an empty bar attack-locks the plant. From level 52 it regenerates Sun mid-battle, and a level 85 capstone drops its starter to free. See stats.
It firms into a solid mid-armor bruiser: DEF around 28 and HP toward 190 β tougher than a weed, still short of a tree. Retreat rises to 33 Sun (an older plant is more rooted and costlier to pull), and the inverted tempo has sunk to its floor by now β the fast opening it had as a seedling is gone, so a mature copy leans entirely on power rather than turn order.
In the succession wheel it is a Competitor. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs) for extra damage (Γ1.5), and takes extra damage from Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes). Against its own group and the off-wheel "Weird" categories it is neutral. See the type chart.
Play it native as a defensive buffer β the HP cushion and bench overshield make it a body that protects the rest of your team. Play it invasive as an attacker, remembering it concedes 2 prizes on a knockout and bleeds its own bench with Faustian self-damage each hit. A shrub sits in the middle of the armor table β firmer than a weed, nowhere near a tree. It is a serviceable mid-line body rather than a carry. It is edible (the game tags the fruit as the eaten part), so feeding it the matching Phosphorus fertilizer pays Γ1.25 coins β a steady earner between battles; any other nutrient banks Γ1.25 XP instead. In the Total power gallery below you can watch it trade a fast-skirmisher opening for raw bulk as it levels: it leans on speed until about level 25, after which its power takes over. It is monotonically stronger the higher it goes, so there is never a 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.