This Death Valley Plant Survives 60°C by Chilling Its Own Leaves
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2 min readKey summary
Some Tidestromia oblongifolia seedlings from Death Valley can survive 60°C heat.
They do it by keeping their leaves more than 10°C cooler than the air through stomatal evaporation.
Lab trials showed survival varied widely across genetic lines, and genome analysis linked heat survival to three DNA regions.
The study suggests plants can survive near the upper thermal limit for eukaryotic life by actively cooling their leaves, not just tolerating heat.
The findings could help explain plant resilience in a warming climate and guide breeding for heat-tolerant crops.