Deschampsia antarctica

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Poales

Familia: Poaceae
Subfamilia: Pooideae
Tribus: Poeae
Subtribus: Aristaveninae
Genus: Deschampsia
Species: Deschampsia antarctica
Name

Deschampsia antarctica E.Desv., Fl. Chil. [Gay] 6: 338. (1854) nom. nov.

Type locality: "New South Shetland Islands, Antarctica"
Holotype: Eights s.n. (K)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Aira antarctica Hook.f., 1838 (Icon. Pl. 2:pl. 150), nom. illeg. non Aira antarctica G.Forst., 1786 (=Koeleria antarctica (G.Forst.) Barberá, Quintanar, Soreng & P.M.Peterson, Phytoneuron 2019-46: 4. (2019))
Airidium elegantulum Steud., 1854 (Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1:423)
Type locality: "Prope Punta Arenas", Chile
Holotype: W. Lechler 1220 (P; isotypes BAA, K; fragment US)
Deschampsia antarctica f. breviaristata Hack., 1900 (in Dusén, Wiss. Ergebn. Schwed. Exped. Magellansl. 1895-1897 5:221), nom. nud.
Deschampsia henrardii Kloos, Blumea, Suppl. 3: 24 (1946)
Deschampsia elegantula (Steud.) Parodi, 1949 (Darwiniana 8:452)

References

Desvaux, E. 1854. "Gramineas." In Claude Gay, ed. Flora Chilena 6:233–469;338.
Chiapella, J. & Zuloaga, F.O. 2010. A Revision of Deschampsia, Avenella, and Vahlodea (Poaceae, Poeae, Airinae) in South America. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 97(2): 141-162. DOI: 10.3417/2008115 Full text PDF from ResearchGate Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2017. Deschampsia antarctica in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2017 Apr. 15. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2017. Deschampsia antarctica. Published online. Accessed: Apr. 15 2017.

Vernacular names
English: Antarctic Hairgrass
Esperanto: Antarkta hargreso
suomi: Etelämantereenlauha

Deschampsia antarctica, the 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.[2]

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.[3][4]

Since 2009, both D. antarctica and C. quitensis have been spreading rapidly, which studies suggest has been the result of rising air temperatures and a reduction in the number of fur seals.[5]
See also

Antarctic flora

References

"Deschampsia antarctica". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
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
Young, Mark C. (ed.). Guinness Book of World Records 1997. Guinness Publishing Ltd. pp. 42. ISBN 0-9652383-0-X.
Wali, Mohan K.; Evrendilek, Fatih; Fennessy, M. Siobhan (July 2009). The Environment: Science, Issues, and Solutions. CRC Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4200-0733-6. Retrieved 25 Sep 2016.
"Flourishing plants show warming Antarctica undergoing 'major change'". the Guardian. 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14.