I continue learning new species of vascular plants and their classifications. Vascular plants are plants with xylum to transport water and phloem to transport nutrients throughout the plant. Plants in the tundra are so different from the plants I've seen in any other biome, including the rain forest! In Costa Rica and Peru I saw enormous Ceiba trees over 200 feet tall. Here, in the Barrow Arctic Tundra, most plants are shorter than five inches tall! Although there no real trees in the tundra; there are more than five species of Salix, including Salix rotundifolia and Salix pulchra. These are classified as shrubs and they are willows, related to the willow trees in the Lower 48. There are Arctic dandelions that are very close relatives of the dandelions in my backyard. I was so surprised to see an Arctic dandelion flowering near the Arctic Ocean. It's kind of hard to believe that the "family tree" extends almost 3,500 miles from New York to Barrow. It's amazing!
I'm learning the differences between different kinds of plants and how to classify them. Grasses are called graminoids. Their leaves meet the ground. They are wind-pollinated so their inflorescences (flowers) are really small because they will be carried long distances. There's three different types of graminoids: grasses, rushes, and sedges. I'm still learning about them.
Arctagrostis latifolia is one of the larger graminoids. It is characterized by the purple color on the edges of its leaves.
Shrubs are woody, well kind of. Although all shrubs are classified by having woody and multiple stems, the shrubs here are not remotely like the shrubs back home. In Columbus, the Topiary Garden is full of over fifty larger than life shrubs that showcase French artist George Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte. Here, in the tundra, the shrubs are almost minute, sometimes only an inch tall. The inflorescences are the largest part of the shrub; and many shrubs like those of the Salix genus, have only male or female inflorescences. I've only seen female inflorescences so far. Hmmm...I wonder if the male and female inflorescences flower at different times? Maybe I should ask my team.
This shrub is a female Salix rotundifolia.
Forbs are the third type of vascular plants found in the tundra. Generally speaking, they are vascular plants that cannot be put into the graminoid or shrub categories. So, I guess you could call "forbs" the catch-all category of vascular plants in the tundra. They are herbs that usually have inflorescences. The sunflower is a giant forb, while Ranunculus nivalis is a tiny forb. I like forbs because I think the inflorescences are beautiful, especially here in the tundra, because they are small, and appear so delicate and dainty, although they must be pretty tough to survive the extreme weather in the Arctic.