Resurrection plant

Updated on Dec 08, 2023

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A resurrection plant is any poikilohydric plant that can survive extreme dehydration, even over months or years.

Examples include

Anastatica hierochuntica, also known as the Rose of Jericho, a plant species native to deserts of North Africa

Asteriscus (plant);

Boea hygrometrica

Haberlea rhodopensis

Mesembryanthemum.

Tillandsia

Myrothamnus flabellifolius, a plant species native to Southern Africa

Ramonda serbica, a species in the Gesneriaceae family

Selaginella lepidophylla, a plant species native to North America, Central and South America, and sold as a novelty

Lichen, a symbiosis that can survive in extreme desiccation

Certain resurrection plants have long been sold in their dry, "lifeless" form as curiosities. This custom was noted by many 19th century authors, and continues today.

In December, 2015, resurrection plants were featured in a TED talk given by Professor Jill Farrant , Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, South Africa, who performs targeted genetic modification of crop plants to make them tolerate desiccation by activating genes that are already there but not natively expressed in response to drought.

References

Resurrection plant Wikipedia

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