Resurrection plant Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun densely tufted fern ally of southwestern United States to Peru; curls up in a tight ball when dry and expands and grows under moist conditions
    rose of Jericho; Selaginella lepidophylla.
  2. noun small grey Asiatic desert plant bearing minute white flowers that rolls up when dry and expands when moist
    rose of Jericho; Anastatica hierochuntica.

WordNet

Definitions
  1. (Bot.), a name given to several species of Selaginella (as S. convoluta and S. lepidophylla), flowerless plants which, when dry, close up so as to resemble a bird's nest, but revive and expand again when moistened. The name is sometimes also given to the rose of Jericho. See under Rose.

Webster 1913