Plantera

 is a Hard Mode boss fought within the Underground Jungle biome. To summon Plantera, the player must defeat a Mechanical Boss (The Twins, The Destroyer, or Skeletron Prime). After doing so, the player must destroy a pink plant bulb found in the Jungle, known as Plantera's Bulb. There is no limit to the number of bulbs in a world; after all of them have been destroyed, more will spawn.

1st Stage
Main body is that of a pink flower bulb, much like the summoning bulb. It uses 3 vines to grab onto solid terrain to move itself, which can also deal damage. It shoots sharp leaves that do relatively little damage, which fire faster as its HP drops. There is also an intermediate stage at around a quarter of its HP, where it starts shooting pink spiked balls that bounce off walls, making it almost suicidal to fight in tight spaces. The fire rate of the spiked balls also gets faster as it approaches the last stage.

2nd Stage
Plantera loses its petals to reveal a carnivorous plant-like body, and a multitude of Vines (besides the 3 used for movement) which behave similarly to the Wall of Flesh's The Hungry. It stops shooting projectiles at this stage and increases in speed.

Strategy
As of 1.2.1.2, it is no longer advisable to fight Plantera on the surface or outside of the Underground Jungle, since it enrages and deals far more damage than usual. When enraged, Plantera is capable of killing the player instantly when hit, even with projectiles. It may be possible to defeat it using a surface technique, or similarly kiting it to a different biome (such as the Underworld), however top tier equipment and weapons would be required.

An easy but expensive way to beat Plantera is by digging a long horizontal tunnel in the jungle, and attaching two Teleporters on both sides. Then, using a Megashark with Crystal Bullets, you can shoot at him while he makes his way to you, and teleport to the other side when he gets too close. Repeat the process until he dies, and that's it. You will need some armor (preferably Hallowed Armor or higher) since this method does not guarantee complete safety. Also any extra damage items will speed up the process. Otherwise, nothing else is needed for this method.

For endgame-geared players, equipping full Turtle Armor, having Warding on your accessories for extra defense, and throwing Godly Vampire Knives repeatedly while standing in one location is generally the easiest way to conquer Plantera. Use of a Cross Necklace or Star Veil can help significantly with this. Done properly, you shouldn't ever be more than 50 health below max, but it can be beneficial to place a spawn point near the location you are fighting Plantera to ensure that Plantera will not despawn should you die if something goes wrong.

Take care to ensure the location you engage Plantera isn't at the edge of the underground jungle or above a depth of 0 (use a Depth Meter or GPS to check). Both of these things can trigger an unexpected enraged boss, significantly lowering any chance of survival regardless of strategy.

If you are very patient you can build a house in a jungle, place down a bed in it, set your spawn there, then try your best to lead it to the house since Plantera does not run away when you die. It can keep spawn killing you, however if you are very patient you can keep hurting Plantera until you kill it, but since it keeps killing you it will take some time.

After killing Plantera and accessing the temple for the first time, a spiky ball trap is easy to set up, and results in a high damage quick method that costs no money (assuming the trap materials are collected at the end). As spiky ball traps work on a 3 second delay, a 3 second timer can be used in order to output the most balls without needing any active input from the player.

Trivia

 * It has been stated that Plantera's name is a reference to the band Pantera.
 * Redigit stated on Twitter that Plantera's theme is the "most epic thing in game".
 * In Swedish, the term "Plantera" means "Planting", which refers as in planting a plant.

Bugs

 * Nimbus Cloud will prevent vampire knives from healing off of damage dealt to Plantera. (Tested multiple times while using the Turtle Armor and Vampire Knives strategy)).Plantera_bulb_near_surface.png
 * Plantera's Bulb may spawn very near the edge between Jungle and Underground Jungle, causing Plantera to enrage immediately when the bulb is broken (in a way that may be very confusing to unfamiliar players.
 * Sometimes Plantera can spawn enraged, even in the underground jungle, leading inexperienced players to believe this is the default mode of Plantera.