Decrepitude

Can a living organism reach a certain degree of decrepitude and remain like that indefinitely?

Pliny thinks the answer is yes.

He has a vase of what used to be orange lilies on his windowsill. The orange petals dropped off one by one some weeks ago. The brown dustings from the anthers fell too. The stamens withered and turned to brittle threads. The leaves stiffened. The stigma remained fresh and green as waxy new marrows.

This sort of thing has happened on Pliny's watch before.