How Do Perennial Plants Handle Ice Forming in Their Tissues?
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Perennial plants handle ice forming in their tissues mainly by controlling where ice starts, by keeping water liquid below freezing, and by stopping ice from spreading into living cells. The short answer to how do perennial plants handle ice forming in their tissues is that the plant manages the freezing process rather than avoiding cold altogether. This article walks through that mechanism using two PubMed Central review articles on freezing in plants, one on ice nucleation and one on the plant cell wall.
Quick answer
- Freezing harms plants mainly when ice forms inside cells, so tolerance depends on where ice appears.
- Water can stay liquid below 0 degrees Celsius in a supercooled state, and the plant’s solutes help with this.
- The cell wall limits how far ice can spread through the tissue.
- Survival through winter depends on whether tissues tolerate ice or avoid it by supercooling.
Why ice is dangerous inside a plant
The main risk is damage to the cell itself. The review states that “Freezing damage arises when intracellular ice forms, when extreme dehydration cannot be tolerated”. When ice forms inside a cell, the damage is serious. The review explains that “In intracellular freezing, ice crystals destroy the membranes and the cells are irreversibly damaged”.
Freezing also causes water loss from cells. The review says that extended dehydration during freezing “may cause damage and rupture of the plasma membrane”. This is why the plant has two problems to manage: the ice itself and the dehydration that comes with ice forming outside the cell.
The review also points to sap movement as part of the damage. It describes “impeded sap flow by embolisms triggered during the thawing of frozen xylem sap” as one of the ways freezing harms a plant, which means the water-conducting tissue can be affected too.
Where ice starts: nucleation outside the cell
Ice does not usually form from pure water in a plant. The review explains that “Hence, under most environmental conditions in which perennial plants live, random organization of water molecules into an effective initial ice crystal is extremely improbable.” A plant tissue therefore needs something to start the crystal, called a nucleator.
In many plants, that starting point is outside the living cells. The review states that “Ice nucleation is initiated outside the plant, typically on the surface of an organ such as a leaf, stem, or bud.” By letting ice form on the outside, the plant gives the process a place to begin away from its most sensitive interior.
The review also says that nucleation is not just a question of temperature. It states that “Heterogeneous ice nucleation is not only dependent on the ambient temperature and ice nuclei but also on the concentration and nature of solutes in the tissue.” So the plant’s chemistry helps decide when and where freezing happens.
Staying supercooled
Some plants avoid freezing by keeping water liquid below its normal freezing point. The review describes this as “allowing water to remain in a metastable liquid state at negative temperatures, that is, supercooled”. Supercooling is a state where the water has not yet turned to ice even though the temperature is below 0 degrees Celsius.
Solutes are central to this. The review explains that “solutes cause a depression in the equilibrium freezing point, but their influence is not simply based on their osmotic potential”. It adds that solutes “can activate or deactivate ice nucleation sites depending on their nature.” This is why the type of solute matters, not just the amount.
The solute content also protects the cell. The review states that “The high solute content allows cells to resist dehydration and their structure to remain fluid during freezing.”
Stopping ice from spreading
Even if ice forms somewhere in the tissue, the plant still needs to control how far it travels. The review says that “Beyond the mechanisms governing ice nucleation itself, limiting the propagation of ice within the plant is crucial for its survival.”
The cell wall plays a part in this. The review on cell walls states that “The cell wall is not only a barrier against ice ingress to the plasma membrane, a primary site of freezing injury, but it also controls the propagation of ice.” The wall therefore blocks ice from reaching the membrane and also limits how ice moves through the tissue.
Plants also reshape the wall as temperatures fall. The cell wall review explains that “During cold and sub-zero acclimation, the cell wall and extracellular space, referred to as the apoplast, experience significant remodeling that leads to the acquisition of freezing tolerance and avoidance”. In other words, the wall is not fixed; it changes as the plant prepares for winter.
What happens to the water inside the tissue
When ice does form, the water around it changes. The review explains that “When ice crystals expand from the initial nucleus, molecules and ions other than water tend to be excluded from crystals and progressively concentrate in the surrounding liquid phase”. This concentration effect changes the chemistry of the water that is still liquid.
The cell wall also interacts with the water directly. The review states that “The attraction of water molecules to cell-wall polymers is a major determinant in the freezing behavior of individual cells.” The wall’s chemistry therefore affects how water freezes around a given cell, not only how far ice spreads.
Taken together, the mechanism works in layers. Nucleation sets where ice begins, solutes shape the freezing point and keep cells fluid, and the cell wall limits spread. The review on cell walls concludes that “These cell-wall modifications promote the development of tissue-level barriers responsible for the degree and depth of freezing survival.”
Tolerance versus avoidance
Plants do not all respond the same way. The cell wall review describes survival as a choice between two strategies. It says that “Overwintering success is contingent on whether plant tissues can tolerate the formation of tissue ice or supercool to avoid freezing injury.” A tissue that tolerates ice can still survive it, while a tissue that supercools tries to avoid ice altogether.
The sources describe this distinction without giving a single rule that applies to every species, so the article does not assume one plant behaves like another. For a closer look at how a conifer copes with winter drying, see how evergreen needles resist winter drying. For the water-transport side of freezing damage, see how plants refill embolized xylem after drought.
For a gardener, the practical lesson is about what the plant does, not what it is told to do. The sources do not describe how to manage ice in a bed or pot, so this article does not offer a planting method. It only explains the internal mechanism the plant already uses.
How we chose these sources
The two sources cover different levels of the same problem. The first is a review on ice nucleation and freezing consequences in perennial plants, which covers where ice starts and how it affects tissues. The second is a review on the plant cell wall at sub-zero temperatures, which covers how the wall limits ice spread and changes during acclimation. Both were fetched from PubMed Central on 2026-10-28 and returned HTTP 200. Neither source is a retail page, and no product claim was drawn from either.
What we could not verify
The sources describe mechanisms in general terms for many plant types, but they do not give a survival temperature for each perennial. Where a claim depends on a particular tissue or species, this article keeps it general rather than stretching it to all perennials. The article also does not describe timing for when plants start or stop hardening.
What the sources do not say
The sources do not give a list of plants that handle freezing best. They do not describe how to protect a perennial in a container or a raised bed. They also do not state how long supercooling can last under field conditions.
Frequently asked questions
Why does ice inside plant cells cause the most damage?
Ice inside a cell destroys the membranes. The review says “In intracellular freezing, ice crystals destroy the membranes and the cells are irreversibly damaged”, which is why the location of ice matters so much.
Can water in a plant stay liquid below freezing?
Yes, in a supercooled state. The review describes “allowing water to remain in a metastable liquid state at negative temperatures, that is, supercooled” as one of the plant’s strategies.
Why is ice unlikely to form on its own inside plant tissue?
Pure water needs a starting cluster to form a crystal. The review explains that random organization into an effective initial ice crystal is “extremely improbable” under most conditions where perennials live.
What role does the cell wall play in freezing?
The wall blocks ice from reaching the membrane and controls how ice spreads. The cell wall review says the wall “controls the propagation of ice”.
Do all perennial plants survive winter the same way?
The sources describe two broad strategies, tolerance and avoidance, and say survival depends on which one a tissue uses. They do not claim every species follows the same pattern, so the article does not make that claim.
Sources
- Ice Nucleation and Freezing Consequences in Perennial Plants. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13242972/ (HTTP 200, opened 2026-10-28)
- Responses of the Plant Cell Wall to Sub-Zero Temperatures: A Brief Update. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8711693/ (HTTP 200, opened 2026-10-28)
