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Resurrection plants

Summary/Abstract: Lack of adequate water in the environment puts these plants into a state of periodic cryptobiosis, or more specifically anhydrobiosis, i.e., extreme reduction of metabolism in conditions of lack of water in their environment. The best known resurrection plants are: Anastatica hierochuntica of the family Brassicaceae, commonly known as “Rose of Jericho”, “Mary’s Flower” or “Mary’s Hand” and often confused with – Selaginella lepidophylla of the Selaginellaceae. The first occurs in areas of the Middle East and Sahara Desert, including Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Iran and Egypt. While Selaginella lepidophylla is a plant characteristic of the Chihuahuan Desert, straddling the US and Mexico border.

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