Antarctic Flora - Flora of Antarctica

Flora of Antarctica

Palaeofloristic studies of the continent of Antarctica show the ecological dominance of the angiosperms on the Antarctic continent and the Southern Hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous and the present day disjunct austral vegetation. 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 America, New Zealand and Australia. It is suggested an paleobotanical habitat similar to the extant cool temperate Valdivian rainforests.

There are two conifer and at least seven angiosperm morphotypes recorded in the Antarctica palaeoflora. Cupressinoxylon Goeppert, which is the more common, and Podocarpoxylon Gothan represent the conifers. The angiosperm component includes two species of Nothofagoxylon one sppecies of Luma, in Myrtaceae genus, one species of Eucryphia, in Cunoniaceae. Other two species assigned to genera Myrceugenelloxylon, Weinmannioxylon, Monimiaceae, Hedycaryoxylon, subfamily Monimioideae, that exhibit anatomical features characteristic of Hedycaryoxylon and extant Hedycarya and Tambourissa, and Atherospermoxylon, erected for fossil woods of the Monimiaceae in the tribe Atherospermeae, now Atherospermataceae in that they exhibit anatomical features similar to Atherospermoxylon and extant Daphnandra, Doryphora and Laurelia novae-zelandiae.

The continent of Antarctica itself has been too cold and dry to support virtually any vascular plants for millions of years. The chilling temperature, lack of sunlight, little rainfall, inferior soil quality and lack of moisture account, due to the inability of the plants to absorb water available by to be in the form of ice, for scanty vegetation . Its extant flora presently consists of around 250 lichens, 100 mosses, 25-30 liverworts, and around 700 terrestrial and aquatic algal species. Two flowering plants, Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass) and Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctic pearlwort), are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula. Species of moss endemic to Antarctica include Grimmia antarctici, Schistidium antarctici, and Sarconeurum glaciale.