The hold plant spell affects vegetable matter as follows: 1) it causes ambulatory vegetation to cease moving; 2) it prevents vegetable matter from entwining, grasping, closing, or growing; 3) it prevents vegetable matter from making any sound or movement that is not caused by wind. The spell effects apply to all forms of vegetation, including parasitic and fungoid types, and those magically animated or otherwise magically empowered. It affects such monsters as green slime, molds of any sort, shambling mounds, shriekers, treants, etc. The duration of a hold plant spell is one round per level of experience of the caster. It affects 1d4 plants in a 40-foot x 40-foot area, or a square 4 to 16 yards on a side of small ground growth such as grass or mold. If only one plant (or 4 yards square) is chosen as the target for the spell by the caster, the saving throw of the plant (or area of plant growth) is made with a -4 penalty to the die roll; if two plants (or 8 yards square) are the target, saving throws suffer a -2 penalty; if three plants (or 12 yards square) are the target, saving throws suffer a -1 penalty; and if the maximum of four plants (or 16 yards square) are the target, saving throws are unmodified.