Seeds from many plants can lie dormant in dry places for years—sometimes hundreds or even thousands. Nature has equipped seeds with this ability. But can whole plants keep their vitality in harsh conditions?
One of the toughest survivors is the cactus—a plant that thrives in the scorching heat of deserts.
Once, a gardener placed pieces of cactus on a shelf covered with canvas. A few days later, he returned to the shelf and was astonished: the cactus pads had rooted through the canvas and the gaps in the boards, stretching toward the ground, which was nearly five feet below.
To test the cactus’s vitality, he tied one pad with twine to a tree branch and left it suspended in the air for six years and eight months. The pads, deprived of nourishment, wilted and turned brown. The gardener assumed the cactus was dead. However, when he planted one of the pads in the soil, it bloomed just a few weeks later!
