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resurrection plant

noun
  1. a desert plant, Selaginella lepidophylla, occurring from Texas to South America, having stems that curl inward when dry.
  2. rose of Jericho.
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Origin of resurrection plant

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for resurrection plant

Historical Examples

  • 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
  1. 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
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012