I am wondering if plants can die of old age. I have never witnessed a plant just get grey and die, so do plants age and if so, how?
Trees and others obv get bigger, but I’m wondering if their existence has a built in limit, like mammals do.
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plants grow in cycles, they like to thrive during the long spring/summer days and will become dormant or die during the shorter winter/fall days. annuals are good for 1 season, planted early spring, die around winter. perennials will last multiple seasons but you generally aren’t getting flowers or fruit during the winter months.
Yeah- having to cut down old trees because the arborist said their life span is only about 50 years.
Short answer: yes
Many plants are annuals and only live a single year, but all plants age and die, even ones we think of as being permanent, like big trees; beech trees, for example, have a lifespan of around 80 years.
What if I propagate a cutting from an old plant that’s close to the end of its natural life. Will the resulting plant from the propagation have it’s lifespan “reset”?
Plant don’t age.
Some may be programmed to spend all the resources and self destruct in order to produce as many seeds as possible and die, but no plants age the way people do. Trees may die of disease or succumb to pests, rot or harsh weather, but they will not die simply because they are too old.
Yes, but also no. For example there’s a creosote bush in the US (Arizona?) that from memory is called King Klone. It’s estimated to be almost 12,000 years old. The interesting thing here is that this creosote bush is more of a colony and reproduces via cloning.
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