Magic Grass Works?

[fountain]

I've added Magic Grass to a few exhibits but have not seen any rise in suitability e.g., from 96 to 99 suitable.  How many plants per square? Are the plants/mushrooms substitutes for rocks?  If not used in an exhibit do they enhance guest happiness?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[Fern]

From Jay: The word "magic" for the magic grass and magic mushrooms is misleading. They don't do anything special. They do not count toward the foliage or rock part of suitability. Animals will like them if they are for a habitat that the animals like. For example, animals that like the grassland habitat will like the grassland grass and grassland mushrooms. Animals that do not like the grassland habitat will dislike the grassland grass and grassland mushrooms. For animals that like them, it probably affects animal happiness and the habitat portion of suitability. But there is so much that goes into the animal happiness and suitability calculations that the benefit probably is not significant. The "Neutral" magic grass would not affect most animals in any way. As for a tiny bit of guest happiness and possibly a tiny portion of zoo rating, these have an esthetic bonus of 20. Again, there is so much that goes into the calculations that the benefit probably is not significant.