Researchers at the Russian Academy of Science’s Soil Cryology Lab have managed to grow flowers using 30,000 year-old seeds preserved in the Russian permafrost.
The seeds of Silene stenophylla were buried by squirrels during the Upper Pleistocene, and covered with layers of frozen soil over thousands of years. Researchers eventually recovered them 125 feet below ground, still perfectly preserved at -7 degrees celsius.
The discovery makes S. stenophylla the oldest known plant species to be revived from ancient seeds, topping the 2,000 year-old “Phoenix palm” grown by Israeli scientists in 2008.
(Source: dated)
