Some plants can be considered biologically immortal under stable environmental conditions, because they do not have an inherent, programmed death or senescence like animals do. Their potential to live is open-ended, limited only by external forces.
One example is the Quaking Aspen. There is one genetic individual named “Pando” that is an estimated 14,000 to 80,000 years old! These plants propagate through underground stems, roots, or runners, creating genetically identical copies (clones).
The individuals (ramets) may die, but the genetic individual (genet) lives on. What we see as individual “trees” are not genetically separate. If conditions in the wild stayed ideal forever, the genet (or even in some cases, the individual) could live forever.
#immortality #aging #plantlife