A survey of the capacity to endure desiccation was obtained for several Brazilian rock outcrop plants. Seedlings, leaves, and entire plants were subjected to dehydration. After dehydration, survival was observed as the ability to recover growth, chlorophyll content and/ or by the absence of leakage of leaf contents. A total of 30 species growing in rock outcroppings in southeastern Brazil showed some ability to undergo extreme dehydration. The species belong to the cryptogams Polypodiaceae, Pteridaceae, Schizaeaceae, and Selaginellaceae, and to the angiosperms Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and Velloziaceae. All cryptogams were homochlorophyllous. Among the angiosperms, Microchloa indica (Poaceae) was the only species with the capacity to retain chlorophyll content during dehydration. All species showed some evidence of desiccation tolerance similar to that previously reported for tolerant angiosperms in Africa. The data suggest that rock outcroppings from the southeastern and central regions of Brazil give support to typical vegetation in which a great number of species exhibit a desiccation-tolerant compartment.