Time-Lapse Captures The Mesmerizing Resurrection of a Rose of Jericho, the Plant that Comes Back from the Dead

The Rose of Jericho (Selaginella lepidophylla) is one of the most resilient plants on Earth, and a marvel to behold. A desert plant, it can survive for months or even years in the complete absence of water, curling up into a tumbleweed-like ball that looks, for all intents and purposes, dead.

Dead, that is, until you expose it to water. And rather than tell you what happens, we’ll let the bewitching time-lapse above by Sean Steininger show you. Covering the span of about 12-24 hours in all, Steininger brought the plant back to life over and over again over the course of three weeks to capture sufficient footage of its unreal transformation.

(via Colossal)