Abrotanella
Encyclopedia
Abrotanella is a genus in the family Asteraceae
, of about 20 species, native to New Guinea
, Australia
, New Zealand
and temperate South America.
They are usually small plants, sometimes not reaching more than a few millimeters above the ground, although some form cushions
in bolster heath
s reaching up to a metre in diameter.
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
, of about 20 species, native to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and temperate South America.
They are usually small plants, sometimes not reaching more than a few millimeters above the ground, although some form cushions
Cushion plant
A cushion plant is a compact, low growing, mat forming plant that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world...
in bolster heath
Bolster heath
Bolster heath or cushion moorland is a type of vegetation community that features a patchwork of very low growing, tightly packed plants found at the limits of some alpine environments. The cushion plants form a smooth surfaced 'cushions' from several different plants, hence the common name of...
s reaching up to a metre in diameter.