resurrection plant


noun

a desert plant, Selaginella lepidophylla, occurring from Texas to South America, having stems that curl inward when dry.

Origin of resurrection plant

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example sentences from the Web for resurrection plant

  • But it resulted in Duncan staring at me in a resurrection-plant sort of way, and in Peter rather dolorously taking his departure.

    The Prairie Child |Arthur Stringer

British Dictionary definitions for resurrection plant

resurrection plant

noun

any of several unrelated desert plants that form a tight ball when dry and unfold and bloom when moistened. The best-known examples are the crucifer Anastatica hierochuntica (also called rose of Jericho), club mosses of the genus Selaginella, and the composite Asteriscus pygmoeus