resurrection plant

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. See rose of Jericho.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A name for several plants which, when dried, reëxpand if wetted. , The rose of Jericho. See Anastatica

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) a name given to several species of Selaginella (as Selaginella convoluta and Selaginella 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.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. small grey Asiatic desert plant bearing minute white flowers that rolls up when dry and expands when moist
2. n. 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