Acaena antarctica is a small herbaceous plant in the Rosaceae family native to Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands.[1]

Acaena antarctica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Acaena
Species:
A. antarctica
Binomial name
Acaena antarctica
Synonyms[1]
  • Acaena antarctica var. argutidentata Bitter
  • Acaena microcephala Schltdl.
  • Acaena pearcei Phil.
  • Acaena pearcei var. glabrinervis Bitter
  • Acaena pumila Phil.
  • Acaena tenuifolia Bitter

Taxonomy and naming

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Acaena antarctica was first formally described in 1846 by Joseph Dalton Hooker.[1][2] Kew holds specimens collected by Hooker from Hermite Island, Cape Horn on the Ross expedition.[3]

The genus name Acaena is derived from the Ancient Greek word akaina meaning "thorn" or "spine",[4] referring to the spiny calyx of many species of Acaena. The specific epithet, antarctica, derives from the Greek (anti, "opposite" and arktos, "bear") and designates the place opposite the constellations of the Great and the Little Bear, thus describing the species as coming from south of the South Pole circle.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Acaena antarctica Hook.f. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b Hooker, J.D. (1846). "The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843 :under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross". p. 269.
  3. ^ K000486068 and K000486066
  4. ^ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 796.
  5. ^ Backer, C.A. (1936) Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten p.117 (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs). (Explanatory dictionary of the scientific names of .. plants grown in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies...)
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