Selaginella lepidophylla

Selaginella lepidophylla

Have been traveling through Alsace, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Eifel and Westerwald. Now back to Malta. I brought a few new toys. One of them a Selaginella lepidophylla, a resurrection plant, which I found in Maria Laach Abby (Germany). It cannot store water, and looks like a dead part of a bush. But when water applied, it opens into a star shape flower after a few hours. Then it needs to dry up again and retracts. The process can be repeated many times. I will store mine in the wardrobe first, as it is supposed to repel bugs also. And I will play with it in winter and I am planning to make a time-laps video clip of the opening. It seems that the plant can stay even for years in the dry condition. This is one difference to a similar plant from the Middle East and North Africa, called the "Rose of Jericho", which only lasts one year. Mine comes from the Mexican desert. Obviously, this is a plant which attracts quite a bit of symbolism, and has common names like Flower of Stone, Rose of Jericho, Resurrection Moss, Dinosaur plant, Siempre Viva, Stone Flower, and Doradilla.

Selaginella lepidophylla under dry conditions

Selaginella lepidophylla under dry conditions