Deschampsia antarctica

Deschampsia antarctica
Antarctic hair grass
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Deschampsia
Species: D. antarctica
Binomial name
Deschampsia antarctica
E.Desv.

Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass) is one of two flowering plants native to Antarctica, the other being Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctic pearlwort).

They mainly occur on the South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland Islands, and along the western Antarctic Peninsula. A recent warming trend has increased germination, and thus number of seedlings and plants, also extending their range southward to cover larger areas; reports indicate a twenty-fivefold increase in their number.[1] This species extends south of 69 degrees south latitude.[2]

See also

References

  1. Lichens, Antarctic; Significance, Vascular Plants: Their; Rudolph, E. D. (Apr 1965), "American Institute of Biological Sciences", BioScience (American Institute of Biological Sciences) 15 (4): 285–287, doi:10.2307/1293425, JSTOR 1293425
  2. Parnikova, Ivan (2011), "Vascular Plants of the Maritime Antarctic: Origin and Adaptation", American Journal of Plant Sciences (Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) 2: 381–395, doi:10.4236/ajps.2011.23044

External links

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