even longer, depending on the plant species and environ-mental conditions. The oldest carbon-14–dated seed that has grown into a viable plant was a 2,000-year-old date palm seed recovered from excavations of Herod’s palace in Israel. Most seeds are durable enough to last a year or two until conditions are favorable for germinating. Thus, the soil has a bank of ungerminated seeds that may have accumulated for several years. This is one reason vegetation reappears so rapidly after an environmental disruption such as fire.