Flower (biological)

In games of the Super Mario franchise, low-growing plants, commonly flowers,  appear as environmental objects that sometimes bear collectible items. In 3D platform games of the Super Mario series, they typically appear in patches or are arranged into flowerbeds (also parsed as flower beds). Piranha Plants are often surrounded by them. The form they take and the very plant species they look like are informed by the environment of the level they are found in, but their function remains the same. The most recurring variant is a leafy bush (also called grass or tall grass ) introduced in Super Mario Galaxy.

There are examples of flowers as decorative elements throughout the Super Mario franchise that have no interactive qualities. There are other objects that are localized into English simply as "flowers" (such as a platform in Super Mario Galaxy and a grapple in Super Mario Galaxy 2) in the Super Mario series and even appear within the same games. However, all of these objects have discrete functions and unique names in Japanese.

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS
Flowers (referred to in at least one instance as tulips) first appear in Super Mario 64, where they grow on the Bob-omb Battlefield and in Whomp's Fortress. Some flower beds release 1-UP Mushrooms when the surrounding coins are collected. Flowers on the Bob-omb Battlefield hide a Warp Point that brings Mario to another flower bed. In the original Nintendo 64 game, all of the flowers are yellow and form hexagonal beds. In Super Mario 64 DS, the flowers are presented as pink, and the beds are more naturally shaped.

Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Galaxy 2
In Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, flowers can be found in nearly all levels and now reflect a wider array of species. They rustle when walked through, with sparkling flowers additionally releasing an item such as a coin or a Star Bit. Flowers largely appear in grassy galaxies with visible sunlight, such as Gusty Garden Galaxy and Fluffy Bluff Galaxy. In drab galaxies with minimal light such as the Ghostly Galaxy and Spin-Dig Galaxy, grass appears in place of flowers, serving the same function. There are instances where both flowers and grass can be found, such as Honeyhive Galaxy. A small planetoid in Super Mario Galaxy 2's Supermassive Galaxy blooms with many flowers when stepped on and appears in the screenshot awarded to the player once they have collected 120 Power Stars.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii / New Super Mario Bros. U
In the New Super Mario Bros. games, flowers appear as interactable background objects. They are typically found on grassy surfaces and mushroom platforms, and they appear with multiple colors and designs. When the player performs a spinning motion near a flower, either through a Spin Jump or through propeller-enabled flight, its flowerhead rotates around the stem; if the player spins close enough to the flower, it additionally releases a coin. Flowers pulsate to the vocal riffs of a level's music.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, coin-yielding flowers are widespread in World 1, World 5, and World 7. In Worlds 1 and 7, the petals on a flower have an outer rim that can be light blue, orange, or fuchsia, with the inner part of a petal being a very light shade of its rim's color, and the flower's disc is always yellow. In World 5, flowers have turquoise, violet, or magenta petals with a single light-colored spot at the outer end of each petal; each petal color corresponds to yellow-, blue-, or lime-colored discs, respectively.

In New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U, flowers mainly appear in Acorn Plains, Soda Jungle, and Meringue Clouds. In New Super Mario Bros. U, some flowers also appear in the levels Tropical Refresher and Skyward Stalk of Sparkling Waters, while in New Super Luigi U, they are present in Beanstalk Jungle in the same world, as well as Mount Fuzzy in Rock-Candy Mines. The flowers in Acorn Plains, Sparkling Waters, and Rock-Candy Mines have blue, yellow, or red petals, with the color transitioning into white towards the inner part of a petal. The flowers in Meringue Clouds also feature this gradient scheme but appear in indigo, pink, or fuchsia. In Soda Jungle, flowers reuse their color palettes from World 5 of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and have a notch at the tip of each petal.

Super Mario 3D Land / Super Mario 3D World
Flowers and bushes appear throughout Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, retaining their function from Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. The flowers appear as small clusters of cosmos and come in a variety of colors. In these games, using a move from a power-up (i.e., throwing a boomerang as Boomerang Mario through one or tail-whipping one as Tanooki Mario) has the same effect as walking through them, usually causing a coin to pop out and immediately be added to the player's total. In some instances, disturbing a flower knocks a Coin Coffer out of hiding or causes a trail of notes to appear.

Little dandelions called Fluffs appear in both games, and they release an item when the player blows into their respective system's microphone. In Super Mario 3D Land, this item is always a Super Mushroom. Because the Nintendo Switch lacks a microphone, the player needs to walk through or hit Fluffs in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury.

The flowers of New Super Mario Bros. Wii also return in Super Mario 3D Land.

Super Mario Odyssey
Flowers and bushes appear in Super Mario Odyssey. In lieu of power-ups, throwing Cappy at flowers can reveal the hidden item within. Coin piles can pop out of flowers and bushes. A wide variety of plants is introduced to satisfy this gameplay concept while maintaining the intended design of each location. For example, ferns appear in place of flowers in the Cascade Kingdom, and tumbleweeds appear in the Sand Kingdom. In some locations, bushes can be ground-pounded to release individual coins. In the Wooded Kingdom, Steam Gardeners cultivate flowers and are best known for giant white flowers. They are stolen by Bowser during the game.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder
When a character waters the ground in their Elephant form in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, short-lived flower particles appear with designs based on those from New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U.

Wario Land 4
Flowers also appear in Wario Land 4, only in the level Wildflower Fields. If a Beezley alights onto a flower as it tries to attack Wario, it pauses and starts pollinating the flower momentarily, causing it to grow a berry that swells. Wario can hit the berry at any time to release coins from it.

The berry has four stages of swelling. The first stage gives small coins worth 10 each, the second stage gives a Bronze Coin worth 50, and the third stage (pictured) gives two Silver Coins worth 100 each. The last stage gives a single small coin worth 10, due to the fruit becoming rotten. A caterpillar can be seen eating it at this stage.