In the searing heat of Death Valley, California, a small desert shrub, Tidestromia oblongifolia, is able to thrive in temperatures upwards of 120 degrees F (roughly 50 degrees C).
In the searing heat of Death Valley, California, a small desert shrub, Tidestromia oblongifolia, is able to thrive in temperatures upwards of 120 degrees F (roughly 50 degrees C). A new study reveals how the plant can endure in such harsh conditions, findings that could prove useful in engineering crops to endure more extreme heat.
For the study, scientists recreated the withering heat and intense sunlight of Death Valley summers in the lab, subjecting the seeds of T. oblongifolia and other plants to the brutal conditions. They found that while other desert plants stopped growing, T. oblongifolia actually grew faster, tripling its mass in just 10 days.
“When we first brought these seeds back to the lab, we were fighting just to get them to grow,” said Karine Prado of Michigan State University. “But once we managed to mimic Death Valley conditions in our growth chambers, they took off.”
Read More: Yale Environment 360
T. oblongifolia growing in Death Valley. (Photo Credit: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz via Wikipedia)
