August 18, 2021 • 5 mins
Plants are pretty amazing things, and each seems to have its own special talents and abilities. But what about a plant that brings itself back to life after years without water? This bonus episode, we’re sharing incredible facts about the resurrection fern, a plant that plays dead during drought and bounces back to life once it’s watered again.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey there, I'm Ngati, the co host of Part Time Genius,
one of the founders of Mental Flaws, and this is
Humans Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart Radio and
your friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make
this the most human show about plants you'll ever listen to,
and along the way, we'll share inspiring stories, tips and
tricks to nurture your plant addiction, and just enough science
(00:27):
to make you sound like an expert. We are on
summer break right now, but because Molly and I cannot
stop our plant addiction, we're going to bring you some
mini episodes to brighten up your feed and grow your
plant curiosity. Throughout the summer. We're dropping incredible stories from growers,
advice from experts, and we'll have some fun conversations around
(00:48):
fascinating plant facts. In this bonus episode, we're talking about
one of our favorite plants, known by its common name
Polly Podium Polypodiodes, or as everyone else calls it, the
Resurrection Firm. Listeners, if you haven't figured it out by now,
(01:12):
I love learning new things, and one of the things
I am kind of obsessed with is things that seem
totally dead but aren't so In biology, there's a whole
category called the Lazarus taxon, and it's filled with plants
and animals that everyone decided had gone extinct until some
scientists spots them in the wild and they realize it's
(01:35):
actually still existing in the world. And then there's something
called the Elvis taxon, where scientists think they've spotted an
extinct plant again, but this time it is just look alike.
So this is kind of like if you see a
guy who looks like Elvis at the mall and you
start pointing and yelling to everyone around you that Elvis
is still alive, but it's really just an Elvis impersonator.
(01:57):
But my favorite favorite of these almost morbid things are
plants and animals that seem to be dead but then reawaken.
So Charles Darwin was once astonished by a beetle that
played possum for twenty three full minutes. There are frogs
like the zombie wood frog that literally stop its heart
and freeze to survive the icy Canadian winters and then
(02:19):
suddenly wake up when the weather's changes and they just
hop off. But the thing I'm currently most obsessed with
is this Resurrection firm. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous firm
that preserves itself during times of drought by curling up
those fronds to the point where it appears completely dead.
(02:40):
And you guessed it. Despite its gray and withery appearance,
it's not actually dead. So here are six facts I
just learned about the resurrection from that I had to
share with you. One, according to the National Wildlife Federation,
(03:03):
this plant can lose an astonishing nine of its water content.
But what's stunning is that the moment it's watered again,
it resurrects itself and turns green and leafy once more.
By contrast, most plants cells collapse and die when they've
lost just ten of their water, all of which means
(03:25):
the resurrection fern is basically the perfect house plant if
you're terrible with plants. Two, it's got some fun nicknames.
In addition to being called the resurrection fern, it's also
sometimes referred to as the miracle fern and the little
gray polypod. Three. You can find these ferns in some
(03:51):
surprising places here in the u s. They're mostly found
climbing old oak trees in the American South, kind of
in the low country, and although they anchor their slender
stems on the bark. They are not parasites. The ferns
climbed the trees to escape the competition for resources from
other groundcover, but once they're up above they feed off
moisture in the air and run off water that drips
(04:13):
off leaves and branches. For there is a super cute
story of how the plants traveled to outer space. In
South Carolina middle school got fascinated with the plant, and
the students suggested to NASA that it might be worth
taking the plants to space to see if they could
perform their trick in zero gravity. So astronauts did Resurrection
(04:37):
ferns boarded the space Shuttle Discovery, and just as you
might expect, they sprung back to life in space. Two. Five.
The plant actually has medicinal qualities too. Native Americans used
to brew the root into a t to cure sore throats,
and they put the root into poultices to treat hives
(04:57):
and inflammation as well. Six. If you're wondering how long
a miracle fern can play dead, scientists estimate that the
planet can play possum for up to a hundred years,
a hundred years before they can drink a little water
and suddenly they're showing off those luxuriant greens again. That's
(05:23):
it for today's bonus episode, but check back here again
soon for more bonus episodes this summer. And don't forget
no matter what season it is or where you're at
in your gardening journey, there's some incredible resources waiting for
you on the Miracle Grow website. Humans Growing Stuff is
a collaboration from My Heart Radio and your friends at
Miracle Grow. Our show was written and produced by Molly
(05:44):
Sosha and me Mongy Shit Together. This episode was edited
and engineered by our pal Matt still O
Hey there, I'm Ngati, the co host of Part Time Genius,
one of the founders of Mental Flaws, and this is
Humans Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart Radio and
your friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make
this the most human show about plants you'll ever listen to,
and along the way, we'll share inspiring stories, tips and
tricks to nurture your plant addiction, and just enough science
(00:27):
to make you sound like an expert. We are on
summer break right now, but because Molly and I cannot
stop our plant addiction, we're going to bring you some
mini episodes to brighten up your feed and grow your
plant curiosity. Throughout the summer. We're dropping incredible stories from growers,
advice from experts, and we'll have some fun conversations around
(00:48):
fascinating plant facts. In this bonus episode, we're talking about
one of our favorite plants, known by its common name
Polly Podium Polypodiodes, or as everyone else calls it, the
Resurrection Firm. Listeners, if you haven't figured it out by now,
(01:12):
I love learning new things, and one of the things
I am kind of obsessed with is things that seem
totally dead but aren't so In biology, there's a whole
category called the Lazarus taxon, and it's filled with plants
and animals that everyone decided had gone extinct until some
scientists spots them in the wild and they realize it's
(01:35):
actually still existing in the world. And then there's something
called the Elvis taxon, where scientists think they've spotted an
extinct plant again, but this time it is just look alike.
So this is kind of like if you see a
guy who looks like Elvis at the mall and you
start pointing and yelling to everyone around you that Elvis
is still alive, but it's really just an Elvis impersonator.
(01:57):
But my favorite favorite of these almost morbid things are
plants and animals that seem to be dead but then reawaken.
So Charles Darwin was once astonished by a beetle that
played possum for twenty three full minutes. There are frogs
like the zombie wood frog that literally stop its heart
and freeze to survive the icy Canadian winters and then
(02:19):
suddenly wake up when the weather's changes and they just
hop off. But the thing I'm currently most obsessed with
is this Resurrection firm. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous firm
that preserves itself during times of drought by curling up
those fronds to the point where it appears completely dead.
(02:40):
And you guessed it. Despite its gray and withery appearance,
it's not actually dead. So here are six facts I
just learned about the resurrection from that I had to
share with you. One, according to the National Wildlife Federation,
(03:03):
this plant can lose an astonishing nine of its water content.
But what's stunning is that the moment it's watered again,
it resurrects itself and turns green and leafy once more.
By contrast, most plants cells collapse and die when they've
lost just ten of their water, all of which means
(03:25):
the resurrection fern is basically the perfect house plant if
you're terrible with plants. Two, it's got some fun nicknames.
In addition to being called the resurrection fern, it's also
sometimes referred to as the miracle fern and the little
gray polypod. Three. You can find these ferns in some
(03:51):
surprising places here in the u s. They're mostly found
climbing old oak trees in the American South, kind of
in the low country, and although they anchor their slender
stems on the bark. They are not parasites. The ferns
climbed the trees to escape the competition for resources from
other groundcover, but once they're up above they feed off
moisture in the air and run off water that drips
(04:13):
off leaves and branches. For there is a super cute
story of how the plants traveled to outer space. In
South Carolina middle school got fascinated with the plant, and
the students suggested to NASA that it might be worth
taking the plants to space to see if they could
perform their trick in zero gravity. So astronauts did Resurrection
(04:37):
ferns boarded the space Shuttle Discovery, and just as you
might expect, they sprung back to life in space. Two. Five.
The plant actually has medicinal qualities too. Native Americans used
to brew the root into a t to cure sore throats,
and they put the root into poultices to treat hives
(04:57):
and inflammation as well. Six. If you're wondering how long
a miracle fern can play dead, scientists estimate that the
planet can play possum for up to a hundred years,
a hundred years before they can drink a little water
and suddenly they're showing off those luxuriant greens again. That's
(05:23):
it for today's bonus episode, but check back here again
soon for more bonus episodes this summer. And don't forget
no matter what season it is or where you're at
in your gardening journey, there's some incredible resources waiting for
you on the Miracle Grow website. Humans Growing Stuff is
a collaboration from My Heart Radio and your friends at
Miracle Grow. Our show was written and produced by Molly
(05:44):
Sosha and me Mongy Shit Together. This episode was edited
and engineered by our pal Matt still O
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