plant death

[Anura]

We all know that all plants live and then die. When you pluck an apple from a tree it is no longer taking in the nutriente and soon dies. Almost like if a person stops eating and drinking. When a man starves to death his heart stops beating you declare him dead. This may sound silly. But,.,,,,, Is it all possible to tell the moment of deth with a plant?

[iNow]

Interesting question, nullnaught. The only reasonable response which I can provide is, "How do we define death in plants?"

 

After all, the answer depends on which definition you choose. In humans, we generally look at things like heartbeat, breathing, and brain function to pin point the time of death.

 

What would be the equivalent in plants? Also, how would this differ between plants (one definition may not apply to all plants)?

 

Regardless, once you've agreed upon such a definition there is no reason you would not be able to measure when it happens.

[Glider]

it would be hard to do since unlike most animals, plants and plant matter also have the capacity to become indefinitely dormant. Seeds for example are not alive in the strict sense. They are 'viable' and can remain so for a very long time.

 

Willow is a good example. Fence posts mafe from willow, if they are 'rustic' (i.e. do not have the bark and cambium layer stripped from them) can throw out new shoots after being hammered into the ground (i.e. replanted) months after they have been cut. This actually recreates a from of propogation that the willow has evolved.

 

Other plants (e.g. the rose of Jericho) can enter a dormant state indefinitely but return to the flush of health under the right conditions.

 

In humans and other animals, death is a process, but it is comparatively fast (minutes) and can be measured (arguments about brain-death and brain-stem death aside, which are more moral than physiological points for debate). In any event, animal death can be described as the point at which metabolism ceases.

 

In plants, this description does not work as lack of metabolism does not mean death. In plants, death can only be described as the point at which the material has become too degraded to recover even under optimum conditions. This varies hugely from plant to plant (grain from tombs in the Valley of the Kings has been germinated). Willow cambium present in fence posts can remain viable for as long as it doesn't dry out comletely, or rot. Exposure to the right conditions will trigger metabolic processes (i.e. growth).

 

So, in the fence post example, the tree was cut down and further cut into sections, but the cells of the willow cambium were not dead. Nor were they alive. They were dormant, but viable and that is a hard state to measure. The only thing is to create ideal conditions and see what happens.