There are a lot of different types of superpowers across the many vast worlds in anime. There are the standard predictable powers like flight, super-strength, and super-speed that main characters tend to have in these shows, with My Hero Academia being a pretty big example.
Then, right underneath them in terms of overuse are elemental powers such as the ability to control fire, water, electricity, and even wind. But, one elemental ability that doesn't see a ton of usage are superpowers having to do with wood and/or plant life. So, let's take a look at some of the most iconic examples in recent years.
8 Black Clover: William Vangeance's World Tree Magic
Starting things off with a character from a newer Shonen, let's talk about William Vangeance from Black Clover, otherwise known as the Captain of the Golden Dawn Magic Knights. Now, William is a bit of a unique example, as he's technically two characters (William and Patolli) in one with two different sets of magical abilities.
But, his primary powers (the ones that make him an Arcane Mage) are the ability to use World Tree Magic. This magic is especially unique, even for wood-based superpowers as William doesn't spawn small branches or control the aspect of wood, but rather he summons entire World Trees or their branches that can bind enemies, span the entirety of a city, or even drain the magic directly from whoever he wants.
7 My Hero Academia: Kamui Wood's Arbor Quirk
People often forget that Kamui Woods is one of the first characters introduced in My Hero Academia, and is the first real example of a hero in action. In the first episode of the anime, right after the concept of heroes and Quirks (the power system in MHA) are introduced by the narrator, Kamui Woods makes his appearance. As soon as he appears Kamui uses his Arbor Quirk to spawn wooden branches from his body that surrounds and restrain the Gigantic Villain causing chaos.
Hilariously, Mt. Lady comes in with a flying kick and steals the credit right after, but Kamui is still one of the biggest rising star Heroes in the show with his Wood-based powers, rising to the Number 7 Pro Hero slot in record time.
6 Naruto Shippuden: Yamato's Wood Release Jutsu
Now, compared to the last two entries, the Naruto franchise actually has a fair number of characters with wood-based powers (called Wood Release in-universe). There's the original user and first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, a bunch of Sharingan users that managed to replicate it in some way, and even side characters like Moegi Kazamatsuri who can use it to some capacity.
And, though this ability was supposed to be unique only to Senju, it was through some inhumane experimentation by both Danzo and Orochimaru that they managed to infuse Senju's Cells into Yamato. Yamato, who temporarily takes Kakashi's spot as the leader of Team 7, is really the only one that can "naturally" utilize Wood Release. That said, Yamato's capabilities are much less than Hashirama's by a large margin, but Yamato is absolutely the more beloved character out of the two in terms of the fanbase, and he's the one in charge of using his Wood Release to hold back Naruto whenever he gets especially dumb and dives too deep into the Nine-Tails Chakra.
5 One Piece: The Green Bull Aramaki's Woods Woods Devil Fruit
Technically this next entry hasn't had long enough to become "iconic" given that he only showed up in One Piece at the tail-end of the Wano Arc. But, Aramaki (better known as the Green Bull) is an Admiral of the Marines, so it's almost a given he'll become more and more iconic with time.
Now, Aramaki uses the Mori Mori No Mi or Woods Woods Devil Fruit, a powerful Logia-type Devil Fruit that turns the user into a "Forest Human". With this power, Aramaki can control all varieties of plant life at will to absurd degrees, potentially making him the strongest wood-type power user on this list.
4 Jujustu Kaisen: Hanami's Cursed Spirit Jujutsu
If someone were to ask if the Exorcise-On-Sight Cursed Spirit known as "Hanami" was considered an iconic character of Jujutsu Kaisen before the anime came out, the answer would be no. But, once Hanami's attack on Jujutsu High was fully adapted in the first season of the anime, this character almost immediately "became" iconic.
And, the primary reason for this is the sheer visual spectacle that his fight against Itadori and Todo is. Hanami is likely the most creative wood-type power user on here, as he uses his Jujutsu abilities in a myriad of ways such as the Cursed Plants, Wood Orbs, and Wooden Roots. He can spawn and despawn plants and wood made from Cursed Energy at will, suck the life out of targets with his Cursed Plants, and essentially hover in the air using his Wood Orbs.
3 Blue Exorcist: Shiemi Moriyama's Tamer Abilities
Next up is quite the adorable character, Shiemi Moriyama from Blue Exorcist. This tiny child may look helpless but she's absolutely one that shouldn't be underestimated. Shiemi is not only a Tamer with an absurd natural affinity for her specialization, but she also has two Demons she's contracted with.
One is a Greenman named Nee and the other is one of the most powerful Demons in existence, the Demon King of Earth Amaimon. With both of these contracts and her own well-honed abilities, Shiemi has a wide range of skills related to growing plant life at an absurd scale, creating divine barriers, and so much more.
2 Seven Deadly Sins: King's Disaster Abilities
When people think of King AKA Harlequin the Fairy King and the holder of the Sin of Sloth, they don't typically think of his wood-based powers. Rather, fans of the franchise think of King's other abilities, such as his levitation powers, transformation skills, or even his ability to read the hearts of those around him (especially Diane, his beloved).
But, King's most dangerous power, simply called "Disaster" is the one where his wood powers come from. With it, King has the ability to "modify" the state of things around him to extreme levels. He can turn a simple cut into a life-threatening wound, cause disease to progress to its final stages in an instant, and can cause plant life around him to grow or wither right away. With this power, King essentially has the complete domain of any nature around him, and that obviously includes trees as well given that he has the power of the Sacred Tree behind him.
1 Yuyu Hakusho: Kurama's Demonic Plant Powers
And finally, let's end things on an icon of 90s anime, Kurama from the all-time classic YuYu Hakusho. Now, Kurama is half human and half fox spirit, and this gives him a wide range of abilities. But, the one he tends to use the most and innovate with is his ability to accelerate the growth of plants. Mostly, he uses this to modify Demonic Plants or "turn" regular plants into Demonic ones.
He uses this power in a lot of innovative ways, with the most well-known being his trademark Rose Whip. But, outside of that, Kurama has used this ability to cause plants to sprout from his opponent's body and kill them, wipe the memories of people using pollen, and even siphon the life from his enemies while inflicting hallucinations on them that force them to relive their worst nightmares over and over again. So, it's safe to say that he has a lot of different techniques in his repertoire.