Colobanthus
Encyclopedia
Colobanthus is a large genus of small, cushion
-like herbaceous
plants, sometimes known as "pearlworts", a name they share with plants of the related genus Sagina
.
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...
-like herbaceous
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
plants, sometimes known as "pearlworts", a name they share with plants of the related genus Sagina
Sagina
Sagina is a genus of 20–30 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. These are flowering herbs native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere extending south to tropical mountain areas at high altitudes, reaching just south of the equator in Africa...
.
Selected species
- Colobanthus affinis
- Colobanthus apetalus
- Colobanthus kerguelensisColobanthus kerguelensisColobanthus kerguelensis is a low-growing, moss-like flowering cushion plant in the Caryophyllaceae, or carnation family, found on subantarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean...
- Colobanthus muscoidesColobanthus muscoidesColobanthus muscoides is a low-growing, moss-like flowering cushion plant in the Caryophyllaceae, or carnation family, found on islands in the south-west Pacific, especially in the subantarctic region...
- Colobanthus pulvinatus
- Colobanthus quitensisColobanthus quitensisColobanthus quitensis is one of the two flowering plants found in the Antarctic region. It occurs on the continental edge, as well as the South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands...
, the world's southernmost dicot, and one of only two flowering plants of Antarctica