某生物化学公司女科学家在考古时发现装有古代种子的陶罐，她将陶罐转交给经验丰富的老博士。经过研究，老博士利用罐子里的种子培育出一种具有神奇治愈功能的植物。然而女科学家的助手凯尔利欲熏心，却将种子偷偷带出，企图与某神秘组织交易赚取钱财。他们的交易过程被两名记者拍了下来，记者的介入也让交易中断，远古种子更在混乱中掉入土中。接触到土地，种子迅速生根发芽，很快长出庞大的根茎。如同病毒一般，植物的根茎迅速蔓延，摧毁了沿途所遇到的所有设施建筑，无数人在这场意外的灾难中丧生。 　　中情局等安全部门介入调查，可是无论多么猛烈的火力，也无法阻止恐怖之物的蔓延……Militant environmentalists Kate and Joe witness, and videotape, the rapid growth of a gigantic root system that literally begins mowing through the country like an earthquake. At the same time, government agent Jack Taylor contacts plant expert Jocelyn Snow, who discovers that her ex-colleague, Frame Marcos, is the probable source of the ancient seed that started the whole ecological disaster. Under the growing threat of massive tsunamis should the enormous root system burrow under the ocean, Jack, Jocelyn, Joe and Kate confront Frame in his compound, then return to the place where it all began, with the hopes that Jocelyn can disable the embryonic root and bring the disaster to an end.