He really could plant it!
The moment the seed touched the flowerpot, it turned into a small green sprout.
Moreover, the sprout would grow gradually over time.
It made Ma Yang feel as though he had planted an actual flower, prompting him to always find time to return and check on his little flower, no matter how far he ran in the Sand Nation.
Until about ten minutes later, when it fully matured, hitting the ripe fruit with his hat would yield Purple Coins.
What really dazzled Ma Yang, however, was that,
the first two flowerpots yielded Purple Coins,
but the third pot did not bear fruit for a while, and after tossing his hat at it with some confusion,
he discovered that Mario had directly possessed the flowerpot.
And it began to grow wildly and rapidly until it became a towering plant,
soaring into the skies and delivering Mario up into the clouds in one go.