RESTREPIA 



RESURRECTION PLANTS 



1507 



2089. Rose of Jericho 

 in the dry state. 



Day^na, Reichb. f. A small plant growing in dense 

 tufts: Ivs. roundish, acute, cordate: dorsal sepal and 

 petals filiform, clavate, shining, violet-brown ; lower 

 sepals united into a broad, bifid blade, yellow and 

 brown. Costa Rica. 



61egans, Karst. Tufted, epiphytic, 2-3 in. high: Ivs. 

 1-1 J^ in. long, elliptic: peduncles usually in pairs: fls. 

 l}4-2 in. long ; dorsal sepal erect, lanceolate, white, 

 streaked purple, with a tail as long as itself, which is 

 clubbed at the tip and yellow; lateral sepals connate 

 into an oblong, emarginate, concave blade, yellow, 

 spotted purple; petals like the dor- 

 sal sepal, but spreading and only 

 half the size; lip half the size of 

 the connate lateral sepals and of 

 the same color but edged with red. 

 Venezuela. B.M. 5%6. F.S. 7:743. 

 Heinrich Hasselbring. 



RESURRECTION PLANTS are 



great curiosities, because they seem 

 to "come to life " after being appar- 

 ently dead. The commonest ones, 

 shown in Figs. 2089-92, are mem- 

 bers of the mustard family and the 

 club moss family. Others are As- 

 teriscus, a composite, and Mesem- 

 bryanthemum, of the fig-marigold 

 family. These are described below. 

 1. The Rose of Jericho is properly Anastdtica Hiero- 

 chuntica, Linn., which name means "Resurrection Plant 

 from Jericho." The plant is a native of the sandy deserts 

 from Arabia and Syria to Algeria. It is an annual and 

 grows about 6 inches high. Soon after flowering the 

 leaves fall off and the branches become woody and 

 roll up into a ball, reminding one of wicker-work or 

 lattice. Inside the ball are the seeds, or, in botanical 

 language, the fruits, which are borne in a protected 

 position near the tips of the inrolled branches. The 

 plants are then uprooted by the winds and are blown 

 about on the deserts. These balls were thought by many 

 to be "the rolling thing before the whirlwind "mentioned 

 in Isaiah, and were brought to Europe by the crusaders. 

 The shape of these balls might be fancifully compared 

 to that of an unopened rose. When the winter rains 

 descend or when the balls are blown into the Mediter- 

 ranean the branches at onCe open back and stretch out 

 straight, the fruits open, and the seeds germinate very 

 quickly, "often in the fruit," according to Warming. 

 The dead plants do not, of course, "come to life," but 

 they retain their hygroscopic properties for many years. 

 They may be dried and wetted alternately many times. 

 The vitality of the seed is doubtless considerable, but it 

 is a question whether there is any good scientific record 

 on this point. The balls are often sold by fakirs and 

 dealers in novelties and attempts are often made to 

 grow the plants at home. 



Botanically, Anastatica is highly distinct by reason of 

 its short and broad fruit or silicle, which has 2 ear-like 

 appendages at the top. The silicle is divided by a 

 transverse partition into 2 cells, each of which contains 

 a seed. There is only one species. The genus belongs 

 to the Arabis tribe of the Cruciferae, but is exceptional in 

 not having a long, slender silicle. The growing plant 

 has obovate Ivs., the lower ones entire, upper ones 



"Natural History of Plants," together with reliable 

 accounts of the behavior of the various kinds. See also 

 B.M. 4400. G.C. 1872:1068. Gn.4,p.lll. These plants 

 have much folk-lore. 



2. The Bird's-nest Moss, Selaglnella Icpidophylla, is 

 a native of Mexico and reaches into western Texas. 



2091. Bird's Nest Moss dried into a tight ball. 



Many Selaginellas will curl up if allowed to dry, and 

 several of the Mexican species do so in their native 

 places during the dry season, but this species is said to 

 make a tighter mass than any other. When placed in 

 lukewarm water the fronds loosen and roll back into a flat 

 position. The plant may become green and grow, and 

 it is also said that it may be dried and revived an in- 

 definite number of times. Selaginellas are beautiful 

 moss -like plants. What appear to be the leaves are 

 really the branches, and the true leaves are scale-like. 

 See Gn. 17, p. 400. F. 1871, p. 144. 



3. Asteriscus pygmceus, a member of the composite 

 family, is also called Rose of Jericho, has the same 

 range as No. 1, and was also brought to Europe by the 

 crusaders. The branches do not roll up, but the in- 



2090. Rose of Jericho as it opens after being moistened. 



toothed, and the fls. are small, white and borne in 

 spikes in midsummer. Excellent pictures of Resur- 

 rection Plants may be found in Kerner and Oliver's 



2092. Bird's Nest Moss, as it opens out flat soon 

 after being moistened. 



volucre closes over the head of fruit during the dry sea- 

 son, and is loosened by moisture when the seeds escape. 

 The genus is referred byBentham and Hooker to Odon- 

 tospermum. See Fig. 2093. 



4. Several species of Mesembryanthemum are known 

 to be hygroscopic. According to Kerner and Oliver, 

 "the capsular fruits of these plants remain closed in 

 dry weather; but the moment they are moistened the 

 valves covering the ventral sutures of the fruit-loculi 

 open back, dehiscence takes place along the ventral 

 sutures, and the seeds, hitherto retained in a double 

 shroud, are washed out of the loculi by the rain." It ia 

 doubtful whether these capsules are offered in the trade. 



W. M. 



Anastatica is occasionally grown for curiosity or for 

 botanical purposes, but the plant is anything but orna- 

 mental. The undersigned has often grown it for classes 

 in botany, sowing the seed in February in pots and 

 keeping the plants in pots all summer. Bottom heat 13 

 not necessary at any stage, at least in America. Th© 



