Looking at plant transport, it looks like you transport to another plant of the same type, so I guess you should be able to use it, if there are other grasping vines in the solar system.
So based on that, it would come down to what system you're in and whether the GM decides that there are sufficiently analogous plants. You could even pop out of your current location, into the middle of some low level xenodruid's firefight in progress, where they actually used the grasping vines ability, instead of going to a naturally occurring plant, if you're in a nice, populated system.
They might also rule that the only plant of the same type is a natural hazard that you would need to deal with on arrival, though I would think it should be something that's basically flavor, rather than a real challenge, for a 15th level party.
They might also say that there are no plants of the same type, or that the grasping vines are a bunch of individual plants that are too small to use, and the ability fails, though that would be kind of a boring way to rule it.
I don't think that would work, it says on plant transport on page 89 that they have to be a similar type and that they need to be big enough for you to enter, and grasping Vines only last one round per Mystic level.
I love the creativity of your question by the way.
I don't think so. You need to be able to fit inside the plant, like a tree trunk or a really big mushroom: one giant mass. A bunch of vines no matter how overgrown have space between them... you wouldn't just want to teleport the 90% of you that was inside the vines would you?
It would be a fun role-playing scenario to go find a incredibly fast growing fungus that fills a large space so you could set up a bunch of escape roots.
The grasping vine plant fills a 20 foot radius.
No. the grasping vine plants occupy a 20 foot radius.
If the DM wants to say that works then that works but its not the call i'd make or expect.
That's still a bunch of vines, thorns and whatnot. A mass of many, many things, which are not that big individually.
And the text of Plant Transport very much seems to imply you'd have to able to fit wholly in one of them to be able to 'port. That'd mean a seriously tiny druid. Using the ability on trees and other "man"-sized things seems to be the intent.
One - and only one - to enter, one - and only one - to exit. And both have to be of the same kind of plant too, which could cause another set of issues with the grasping vines.
It's still a good ability - as long as there are no other Large party members.
A creature fills a 5 by 5 foot square but isn't a 5 by 5 cube. Same thing with the radius
A creature takes up a five by five area and still has enough arms left over to reach 5 foot over into the squares (which is prorportionately bigger reach than the 20 by 20 vines)
The parallel for why i'm bringing it up is obvious: occupying x amount of area is not occupying ALL of that area like a brick.
Well, I wouldn't expect a 20ft radius of vines to all be one single plant, but that's not really what matters.
Seems to me, this is becoming a kind flavor debate, with big mechanical implications.
One side sees it in a way probably colored by years of PF and D&D : stepping into a tree trunk or something similarly massive, and out of another, somewhere else.
The other sees it as, potentially, dissolving into a mass of writhing vines, and seeping and reconstituting (if that's a word in english) out of another, somewhere else.
Am I right so far ?
Why not. In a vacuum, it doesn't matter all that much.
I still read it as one big plant you could physically fit in, but i could see it the other way if needed.
In fact, Star-Knights of Ni! jumping from shrubbery to shrubbery would amuse me.
You know what, just because of that, I'll say any (natural) shrubbery big enough is eligible for transport. I'll houserule it if need be.
The specific question of summoned vines is important, though, and very much so, because magic.
Being able to transport through the vines means being able to do it from anywhere. Planetside, nice. Middle of the desert, very nice. In a place plantlife can not exist viably otherwise ? Big. On a lifeless, lightless, irradiated rock with no atmosphere ? The sterile hull of ship in outer space ?
Being able to use those abilities together makes a huge difference.
That alone is almost enough to make me think it doesn't work.
Instant travel, anywhere within the solar system, with fairly tame restrictions is already quite good. It would be huge boost to an already decent power.
Then again, I don't see it, but why not. Could be wrong.
And then comes the question of the kind of plants the vines actually are.
You can only transport between plants of the exact same kind after all.
It can't be just local flora, since they can appear in places where life is impossible.
Is it a specific kind, the same for all druids and only them - which means you're likely to pop out in the middle of someone else's fight ?
Caster's choice ? Each druid his own, set in stone depending on their homeworld, tastes, zodiac sign, the color of his soul or whatever ?
A new breed each time, existing only for the duration ? A mess of many varied plants of all kinds ?
The (understandable) lack on details in the ability's description makes me think it doesn't matter, which can only be if transport via vines is not a thing.
Again, why not. But I'm really not seeing it.
Apologies if I'm rambling like an idiot, it's 5am, i'm exhausted and not in possession of all my brain means. It's a fun puzzle.
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1 - technically, i could call it a single plant. vines often spring from one source and then branch out - think a grape vine. That's fine by me.
2 - since it's so large (20 ft radius), yeah, it's big enough for a mystic to jump into it.
3 - the kicker - this is a temporary plant. of magical origin. which whithers and rots away in a few minutes at most.
so... it would really depend upon the flavor, and the DM. i think the player should work out the flavor by which they summon the vines - does the Druid just point with a finger or nod with their head? or do they have to pull out a pinecone from the Grove of Imminent and hurl it at the target, whereupon the resulting grasping vines grow as the Child Snatching Fir Roots of Zgummon?
I think if you want to just have it be an easy spell without flavor, as a DM, I'd forbid the use of the vines as a transportation measure. However, if you want to make your xenodruid more interesting (and have him carry around some pine cones or seeds or something) then sure.
But beware... those are seeds of nasty plants, and leaping headlong into the grasping vines is going to end you up in an ancient grove of these dread weeds. And who knows what cruel pollinator or titanic herbivore feasts upon them? And what might the alpha predator in such a despitous ecology be?
I would allow a xendodruid to plantport using a thick mass of vines or fungus or whatever. Many of my fellow GMs would rule similarly I'd imagine.
Not sure about allowing it via spell-conjured vines though.
I think rules as written that as long as the plant is classified as being large enough, you can do it, though I think the point of contention is if logically the ability (or spell in other editions) requires the plant to have a contiguous surface large enough for a person to enter.
Most times I have seen it used it has been flavored as a doorway to another place opening in a tree trunk, or as a person merging into a tree trunk, which would be awkward to do if the plant is entirely comprised of centimeter thick vines (does the person separate into centimeter thick strips? Do the vines merge together to form a portal?).
I think it comes largely down to how you or your gm flavour the ability as working. If it works on a bush however, then wouldn't it also work on a grassy field? Some species of grass reproduce via seeds with a few blades being one plant, but others spread via runners so could possibly be thought of a large area being one plant.