Plants in Tundra

Most plants in the tundra are perennials.  Perennials are plants that grow each season, but go dormant over the winter months until spring. The snow acts as a blanket to protect the roots from the wind and cold temperatures. In the spring they sprout out of the ground from the roots that were dormant over the winter.

	Autumn Willow Due to the permafrost beneath the soil, tall trees can not grow in the tundra.  The roots can't grow through the permafrost.  The tundra does have low growing trees such as the Autumn Willow to the left.  This tree survives the elements of the tundra by creeping along the ground.  Its branches never rise higher than 4 inches from the ground, but may grow as long as 16 feet.  Its shoots and leaves contain more vitamin C than an orange!
Dwarf Willow An adaptation that plants have to survive in the tundra is they are small and low growing.  This is due to the lack of nutrients, permafrost, and because the air is warmer near the ground.  Another adaptation is waxy leaves.  This protects the plant from losing moisture that is needed to survive.
	Low-Bush Plants Besides growing low to the ground, tundra plants also clump together to protect them from the harsh climate of the tundra. This forms a tight mat above the ground causing the ground to be warmer than the air above it. This is a picture of low-bush cranberries, lichens, and dwarf birch.  This is how they look in the autumn.
Rosette Pattern Plants Some plants in the tundra have a rosette shape that helps to hold in the heat from the sun.  Also plants have dark colored leaves and stems to absorb the heat for the plant.  Another adaptation is to have a dense mat of hairs that cover the leaves.  This lets the heat from the sun in, but traps the heat close to the leaves.
	Saxifrage Since the Arctic summer is so short, plants need to have a short growing season. The growing season in the tundra is 10 - 14 weeks long.  Plants need to be able to sprout, grow, produce seeds, and get them pollinated in this very short time.  The seeds rest in the soil during the winter and sprout in the summer when it gets warm enough.
Arctic Poppy This plant has 2 special adaptations that help it to survive the cold temperatures of the tundra.  The first one is the bowl-shaped flower.  This acts as a reflecting dish to focus all of the sun's rays on the center of the flower.  The second one is this flower turns to follow the path of the sun.  Both of these adaptations help the seeds develop quickly.
	Lichens Lichens are a combination of algae and fungi that live together as one organism.  This relationship is called mutualism.  The fungus is the main structure of lichen that supports and protects the algae inside its tissue.  The algae, a plant, produce food that the fungus needs.  They grow in colorful crusty patches on the rocks.
Tundra Cotton Most tundra plants have shallow root systems due to the permafrost.  Many arctic plants are evergreen which means they stay green all the time.  This gives them a jump start in the spring for the short growing season.

As you can see, despite the harsh climate of the tundra, plants have adaptations that help them to survive the climate.