When Fire Makes Things Grow

Trivia time! What natural disaster is the most destructive to a forest? Chances are that the first thing that comes to mind is a forest fire. After all, fire is pure destruction to plants. What possible good could come from it? Fire seems to us to be unequivocally evil for forest life. How surprising it is to learn that fire is, for some plants, an indispensable part of life. A pyrophile plant is a categorization of plant that not only resists fire but relies on the heat and smoke of fire to raise their seeds from dormancy and to prepare the soil for germination. 

Without fire, plants…