Live Resurrection Plant (Rose of Jericho, Dinosaur Fern)

NAME: Resurrection Plant

OTHER COMMON NAMES: Spike Moss / Rose of Jericho / Dinosaur Plant / Air Plant / Miracle Plant / Prehistoric Plant / Siempre Viva (Live Forever)

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Selaginella Lepidophylla

COLOR: Bright Green

HARDINESS ZONE: 8- 10 / Houseplant

PLANT HEIGHT: 6 - 12”

PLANT SPACING: 6 - 9”

LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Partial – Full Shade

SOIL& WATER PREFERENCES: See Description Below

QUANTITY: 1 Large Live Plant

OTHER: This plant can be found under many different names, including the Jericho rose, Resurrection Plant, Siempre Viva, or Dinosaur Plant. The scientific names are Anastatica hierochuntica, the African and Asian version, or Selaginella lepidophylla, the North American variety. The original name was Biblical in nature, and the sudden blooming of this desert flower was meant to represent Mary's womb opening and closing. It grows naturally in Northern Africa, southwest Asia, southwest America, and Central America.

Like the Christmas rose, this plant is great around the holidays. They are flowers designed for an arid, desert climate, and are often found in a brown curled up state. In fact, they are often sold this way so that is normal.

Once they are watered, they will turn a vibrant green and have almost moss like blooms, hence the alternate name Spike Moss. When the water source is eliminated, they will go back to their brown ball state. The plants are built for this continuous cycle and many specimens can live for years like this. Many families keep a dormant plant throughout the year and then water it near the holidays, so it becomes a holiday tradition. Many people keep this on their holiday table. Since it does not need to be planted, it is easy to care for. Just get a bowl of water and put the brown plant into it. Within a few hours, you will have a blooming plant! It can be kept blooming but for best health it should be dried out a couple times a year.

In nature, this plant rolls around the desert in its balled up state until it finds a water source. Then it pulls in the water and blooms accordingly. The Resurrection Plant has adapted extremely well to tough environments.

This fern is an ephiphyte, or air plant, which means it attaches itself to other plants and gets its nutrients from the air and from water and nutrients that collect on the outer surface of bark. The resurrection fern lives on the branches of large trees such as cypresses and can often be seen carpeting the shady areas on limbs of large oak trees. However, it is known to grow on the surfaces of rocks and dead logs as well. It is often found in the company of other epiphytic plants such as Spanish moss.

The P. polypodioides resides in the hardwood forests of southeastern United States in areas including Delaware, Illinois, Texas, and Florida. This fern can also be found in areas such as subtropical America and parts of southern Africa.

The resurrection fern gets its name because it can survive long periods of drought by curling up its fronds and appearing desiccated, gray-brown and dead. However, when just a little water is present, the fern will uncurl and reopen, appearing to "resurrect" and restoring itself to a vivid green color within about 24 hours. It has been estimated that these plants could go 100 years without water and still revive after a single soaking.

*Your plant will be shipped in its dried or dormant state. Full instructions will be included with your plant, but all you need to do is to simply place it in a shallow bowl of water and watch the miracle!

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