Animal DNA degrades over time (biological aging), due to shortening of telomeres, mutations, etc. But why can you take a cutting of a plant of a certain age and the cutting seemingly resets its biological clock? A cutting from a 30 year old plant will live a full lifespan, versus lifespan – 30 years.
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Plants that are cloned are generally cloned by cutting from new growth (soft or semi-softwood cuttings from plant bits that grew this year). New growth has, by definition, not had much chance to age. The new growth puts out roots, then as it ages puts out more new growth. The original growth doesn’t clone, it’s the new growth that does. So the total age of the bit of plant that you’re actually growing is never all that excessive.
That said, cloned plants do mutate. If you take cuttings from a part of the plant that likes to grow vertically, for example, the plant that is produced will grow more vertically (this is called a “sport”). Similarly, if you buy a popular plant that is an unusual color, parts of the plant will often revert to the plant’s “natural” color as the plant ages. Maybe it’s better to think of plants as “colonies” of organisms. Because they don’t have complex organs, any given bit of a plant can have its own genetics and still survive as long as there are roots below piping it water/nutrients and leaves above piping it energy.
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