The tough little Dryas Octopetala ("Mountain Avens") will flower only in desolate tundra environments. Its durable pollen (a grain greatly enlarged, below) has long been used as a reliable indicator of arctic climate conditions many thousands of years ago.
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Dryas photo: S. Weart, Devon Island, Nunavuk, Canada,
2005. Main page flower photo by Bob Skowron, courtesy Rocky Mountain Rare
Plants. Pollen photo copyright K.D. Bennett, Uppsala University.
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copyright © 2005 Spencer Weart and American Institute of Physics.