Turgor

The peace lily (Spathiphyllum) came to our house DOA after a fairly successful year at college, followed by a single afternoon in a hot car on a summer day. I scissored off the crisp brown leaves and left the crown to resurrect in the cool of the kitchen, where it convalesced with the wandering Jews under fluorescent lights.

In March, we adopted a plant-eating dog so I moved the poisonous peace lily to our bedroom.  On top of the dresser, it is out of reach of the dog and out of sight of the plant waterer.

This morning, I found the peace lily in the winter sunlight.

After some rainwater, the plant revived, except for the flowers.

Peace lilies bounce back quickly after wilting, with no apparent damage.  Garden plants with this same ability include hydrangea and impatiens.  There is a word for this bouncebackability, but I cannot recall it nor find it online.  

However, I discovered a piece from an academic journal that proved viagra benefits plants by improving their turgor, or stiffness caused by water uptake.

The peace lily is resilient.  When stressed it copes by drooping, but when given extra resources -- rainwater -- it readily bounces back.  Sometimes the experience of stress enables a steeling effect, but that rarely happens in the plant world.

We admire those who are strong, but not everyone can be tough.  And yet those who do not appear to bear up under adversity can be resilient. It helps if someone provides more resources.