Little Planet flowers

The Little Planet flowers, also known as Miracle Planet Flowers, are a flora that appears in Sonic the Hedgehog CD. They are a unique breed of flowers native to the Little Planet which serve as the power source for Dr. Robotnik's Badniks in Sonic the Hedgehog CD, replacing the Animal friends from the previous titles.

Description
The Little Planet Flowers are usually plants that bear some resemblance to plants found in locations such as Green Hill Zone. They appear to be spawn from the energy of the Little Planet itself, and seem to possess unique energy properties that allows them to be converted into orbs of light and to be used to power robots, namely Dr. Robotnik's Badnik hordes. Once the energy orbs containing a Little Planet flower touch the ground, they will instantly bloom into full-grown flowers.

The Little Planet flowers come in several types with own unique appearance. Each Zone on the Little Planet contains a specific types of the Little Planet flowers that can only be found within these areas.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
The Little Planet flowers made their first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog CD as the power sources for Dr. Eggman's Badnik army. Whenever Sonic defeats a Badnik, the flower contained within the Badnik is released in its orb form, for then to fall down vertically in the position where the Badnik was defeated and instantly bloom when it reaches the ground. After defeating the boss in the third Acts of each of the zones (except for Stardust Speedway and Metallic Madness),Capsules containing Little Planet flowers must be destroyed in order to clear the Act. Doing so will release the Little Planet flowers within them and cause them to bloom as well.

Sonic Advance 3
While they did not technically appear in Sonic Advance 3, the concept for the Little Planet flowers were used in the game's bonus stages, where the player has to destroy all Badniks in the arena. Similar to the flowers in Sonic CD, destroying one of these Badniks will release a flower that will instantly sprout once it touches the ground. These flowers, however, are released in seed form and resembles normal flowers.