Only one in twenty cells in a Sphagnum plant is actually alive

Evidence

What amazes me most about Sphagnum is that most of the plant is dead. Under the microscope you see that every leaf has narrow bands of living cells which border the patches of dead cells, like green hedgerows around empty pastures. Only one cell in twenty is actually alive. The others are merely dead cell walls, skeletons surrounding the open space where the cell contents used to be. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 452

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Sphagnum’s acidity made it the main wound dressing in World War I — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 460; A living culture persists through generations like Sphagnum’s renewing surface. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 480

Broader Connections

• A living culture persists through generations like Sphagnum’s renewing surface. #exemplifies (0.72) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 480