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ANTARCTICA:
Animals and plants
Cottongrass:
It's named by its fluffy white tufts. Cottongrass is an important food source for migrating snow geese.
Arctic Willow:
This plant is a dwarf shrub eaten by hares and oxens. It's called the 'tongue plant' because of the shape of it's leaves.
Arctic poppy:
This plant is about 10-15cm tall, with a single flower per stem. The flower heads follow the sun and the cup shaped petals help absorb solar energy.
Purple saxifrage:
This plant grows in a low, tight clump. It's one of the earliest plants to bloom. It has tiny purple star shaped flowers.
PLANTS:
There are approximately 300 types of moss found in colonies, over 300 non-marine algae species and about 150 species of lichens. There are only two native vascular plants in Antarctica - Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort. These species are found in small clumps near the shore of the West Coast of the Antarctic peninsula. Temperatures are much colder there and there is more rainfall.
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