Acaena magellanica

Acaena magellanica, commonly called buzzy burr or greater burnet, is a

species of flowering plant whose range includes the southern tip of South
Acaena magellanica
America and many subantarctic islands.

Contents
Description
Distribution and habitat
Ecology
References Leaves and seed-heads

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Description
(unranked): Angiosperms
Acaena magellanica is a perennial, mat-forming plant with creeping stems, up to
14 cm (6 in) high. The leaves are oblong to linear-lanceolate, with 5 to 10 pairs of (unranked): Eudicots
ovate leaflets. The flower heads are globular and grow on wiry stems well clear of (unranked): Rosids
the foliage. They are followed by brown, prickly seed heads; the seeds have small
.[1]
hooks which enables them to adhere to clothing, feathers or fur
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Distribution and habitat Tribe: Sanguisorbeae
The species is native to the southern part of South America. Its range includes Genus: Acaena
Argentina, Chile and various sub-Antarctic islands including the Falkland Islands,
Species: A. magellanica
the Kerguelen Islands, the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, South Georgia
and the South Sandwich Islands and the Heard Island and McDonald Islands. Its Binomial name
typical habitat is damp places such as the edge of bogs, the banks of streams, Acaena magellanica
waterlogged places, meadows and forest margins. It grows from sea level to an (Lam.) Vahl
altitude of about 4,200 m (13,800 ft).[1]
Synonyms

Ecology Ancistrum magellanicumLam.

In South Georgia, Acaena magellanica may cover the ground in dense patches. It
is deciduous, and when the leaves are shed, mosses likeTortula robusta, which grows underneath, flourish.[2]

The Kerguelen Islands are in the Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra ecoregion which is characterised by tussock grasses, lichens
and liverworts. A. magellanica is one of the few low forbs that grew here, but the introduction of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus
cuniculus), which selectively grazes the species it prefers, eliminated many of the native forbs.[3] When the rabbit was eradicated, A.
magellanica and other forbs failed to recover because years of herbivory had depleted their seed banks, and introduced species such
as annual meadow grass (Poa annua), mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium fontanum) and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) out-
competed them.[3]

References
 1. Marticorena, A.E.; Cavieres. L.A."Acaena magellanica (Lam.) Vahl (Rosaceae)" (http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid
=S0717-66432000000100011&script=sci_arttext) . Gayana. Botánica (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 March 2016.
2. Headland, Robert (1992).The Island of South Georgia(https://books.google.com/books?id=lZ04AAAAIAAJ&pg=P
A2
03). CUP Archive. p. 203.ISBN 978-0-521-42474-5.
3. Simberloff, Daniel; Rejmanek, Marcel (2011).Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions(https://books.google.com/books?
id=hq5uc8O5pDQC&pg=PA332). University of California Press. pp. 332–335.ISBN 978-0-520-94843-3.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Acaena_magellanica&oldid=831827343

"

This page was last edited on 22 March 2018, at 11:20(UTC).

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.