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A wide variety of plant life has resided in Antarctica throughout its history. Investigations of Upper Cretaceous and Early Tertiary sediments of Antarctica yield a rich assemblage of well-preserved fossil dicotyledonous angiosperm wood which provides evidence for the existence, since the Late Cretaceous, of temperate forests similar in composition to those found in present-day southern South ...
Antarctica has around 400 lichen species, plants and fungi living symbiotically. [3] They are highly adapted, and can be divided into three main types; crustose lichens, forming thin crusts on the surface, foliose lichens, forming leaf-like lobes, and fruticose lichens , which grow like shrubs.
David Senchina notes that Hooker was the first botanist to set foot on Antarctica, in 1840; the first sighting of a plant on the continent was only a few years earlier, namely A. Young's observation of Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass) in 1819, from HMS Andromache, and the first plant specimen from an Antarctic island had been ...
This species is one of only two flowering plants native to Antarctica, the other one being Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis). Throughout its history, Antarctica has seen a wide variety of plant life. In the Cretaceous, it was dominated by a fern-conifer ecosystem, which changed into a temperate rainforest by the end of that period.
Antarctica's two flowering plant species, the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis), are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctica is also home to a diversity of animal life, including penguins, seals, and whales.
Deschampsia antarctica has been recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records as the southernmost flowering plant. In 1981, a specimen was found on the Antarctic Peninsula's Refuge Islands at a latitude of 68°21′S. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Since 2009, both D. antarctica and C. quitensis have been spreading rapidly, which studies suggest has been the ...
For the purposes of this category, "Antarctica" is defined as the only area within the WGSRPD region of the "Antarctic Continent" in the Antarctic botanical continent, according to the WGSRPD.
Schistidium antarctici is a species of moss found in Antarctica and subantarctic islands. [2] It lives in compact clumps that are yellowish green at the top and brownish black at the bottom. It grows on both soil and rocks. In the Windmill Islands area of Wilkes Land, Schistidium antarctici is the most common bryophyte.