Deschampsia antarctica

Antarctic hairgrass, Petermann Iceland

The Antarctic hairgrass ( Deschampsia antarctica ) is a plant of the family Gramineae ( Poaceae ). In addition to the Antarctic Perlwurz ( Colobanthus quitensis ) it is the only native Samenpflanzenart Antarctica.

Description

The Antarctic hairgrass is a perennial plant with polsterförmigem growth. It reaches heights of growth 10 to 30 centimeters. The truncated ligule is 4-8 millimeters long. The leaf blades are narrow, rolled, and about 2.5 to 3 millimeters wide.

The inflorescence is a loose, 5-20 cm long panicle. The stalked, two to dreiblütigen, 5-7 mm long spikelets are individually on the hairy Rispenästen. The fruit is a 1 to 1.2 mm long, dark brown caryopsis.

Dissemination

The Antarctic hairgrass is common in the extreme south of South America and on the Antarctic continent and the subantarctic islands.

Swell

  • WD Clayton, KT Harman, H. Williamson: World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval. As of 2002, RBG Kew. GrassBase - Deschampsia antarctica Description, accessed on 24 July 2007.
  • Short article about the Antarctic flora (English )

Further Reading

  • Irena Giełwanowska, Ewa Szczuka, Józef Bednara, Ryszard Górecki: Anatomical Features and Ultrastructure of Deschampsia antarctica ( Poaceae ) Leaves from Different Growing Habitats In: Annals of Botany 96 (6), 2005, pp. 1109-1119, Online
Pooideae Genus
68190
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