Antarctica is the coldest, driest place on earth. On some parts of the continent, average annual preciipitation is less than four inches (10 cm) a year. It's colder by far than the North Pole and frequently buffeted by severe storms. (Another of its records is that it's the windiest continent on earth).
As such, Antarctic vegetation is pretty limited.
But it would be wrong to assume that there is no vegetation in this stark landscape. While most vegetation is mosses and other simple forms of plantlife, there are grasses that grow in the continent's warmer South Georgia region. All plants, even the humble mosses, grow mostly in the continent's fleeting weeks of summer.
This is not to say that Antarctica is not of interest to botanists. With more than 200 species of lichens and 50 species of bryophytes (a kind of moss), there are many plants uniquely capable of thriving in this most inhospitable garden spot.
Algae are very simple forms of plant life that thrive in the ocean, but Antarctica has snow algae that make their home in on land. Of particular interest to travelers are the multicolored snow algae.
And Antarctica is even home to two indigenous flowers: the hair grass and the pearlwort. Neither of these flowers is exactly flower shop material, but they're interesting forms of plant life nonetheless. |
