The diminutive herb Borderea pyrenaica, a resident of the rocky slopes of the central Pyrenees, can live for at least 260 years without showing its age.
The evolutionary forces that promote age-related decline — which seems to occur in some species but not others — remain unclear. Johan Ehrlén of Stockholm University and his colleagues followed more than 700 individual B. pyrenaica plants (pictured) distributed over two plots for five years. The team measured size, growth, fecundity and survival. The herb gains a scar on its tuber each year, which allowed the researchers to easily determine the age of each individual at the end of the experiment.
None of the parameters studied declined with age — in fact, the older the plants got, the greater their reproductive potential became.
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Enduring herb improves with age. Nature 477, 134 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/477134a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/477134a
