Russian biologists have managed to regrow flowers from seeds that were frozen for about 30.000 years. The seeds of prehistoric Silene stenophylla were extracted from plant seeds found in the Russian permafrost soil. They were probably dug in by Ice Age squirrels and never defrosted since. The flowers show significant differences from their modern counterparts: The blossoms look slightly different, and the prehistoric plants first only grew female blossoms, while the modern ones immediately grow hermaphroditic blossoms. You can read more about this on Spiegel.de (in German).
Published on February 21, 2012