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Colobanthus quitensis
Antarctic pearlwort is a small, cushion-forming perennial with tiny yellow flowers, native to the Antarctic Peninsula and the Andes. It is a cold-climate plant and is rarely grown outside its native range, so care is mostly about keeping it cool, open and well drained.
Colobanthus quitensis, also known as the Antarctic pearlwort, is one of two native flowering plants found in the Antarctic region, the other being Antarctic hair grass. It has yellow flowers and grows about 5 centimetres (2 inches) tall, giving it a moss-like appearance. Due to climate change, the species has been spreading rapidly, particularly to areas outside Antarctica.
Colobanthus quitensis is found on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, on South Georgia, South Shetland, the Falklands, and the Andes, becoming increasingly rare northwards, but reaching Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, with a further isolated population in Mexico. It is one of two flowering plants native to Antarctica, the other being Deschampsia antarctica.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Colobanthus quitensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
