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Diapensia lapponica
Also called Diapainsia, Lapland Diapensia, Lapland Pincushion Plant, Diapensia
Diapensia lapponica, the pincushion plant, is a plant in the family Diapensiaceae, the only circumboreal species in the genus Diapensia, the others being mainly in the Himalaya and on mountains in southwestern China. This species likely became circumboreal-circumpolar [Arctic–alpine] after it jumped to arctic habitat from North China and Russia. The most likely candidate for ancestor is a white-flowered D. purpurea The plants grow on exposed rocky ridges that are kept free from snow by high winds.
Diapensia lapponica is extremely slow and low-growing and cannot compete with plants that overtop it. The plant is very sensitive to higher temperatures and so is often in misty foggy habitat. It usually dies when transplanted to lowland gardens and so this is not recommended. Cold-treated or wild and winter-collected seed will germinate indoors. The seed and leaves are high in lipids.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Diapensia lapponica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
