This Green Yareta Is A Survival Champion In Extreme!
Amidst the mysteries of Andes in Peru, lies this strange green cushion plant. Inherited by the name Yareta, or Azorella compacta, this plant makes us wonder about its life form. Is it a moss? No. Not exactly. They belong to the family of carrots, parsley, celery, etc. The green Yareta got its name from the Quechua language with the definition of velvety. Nevertheless, the growth habits of this green Yareta, the survival champion in the extreme might surprise you!
Native to South Africa, it grows in the Puna grasslands between 3,200 and 5,250 meters (10,500 and 17,220 ft) elevation. Basically, this evergreen takes the form of a hemispherical or mat-like shape just like an evergreen overcoat on the mountain. Yareta made its home in the Andes in sandy, well-drained soils and is capable of growing in poor soils that are acidic, neutral, or, alkaline. Accordingly, let’s explore the story of this mysterious green mound as another secret creation of nature.
How does Green Yareta survive the extreme?
Yareta is an eternal evergreen with pink or lavender flowers. It can reproduce self-fertile flowers and pollination takes place because of bees, wasps, and moths. This plant attracted scientists with its amazing growth capability in extreme environmental conditions.
It is mostly visible in mountain side which spreads from northern Chile and Argentina to southern Peru and western Bolivia, arctic, and sub-antarctic regions of the world. To maximize Yareta’s specialty, it can shield the effects of low temperature or drought conditions and improve soil composition.
The structure of Yareta
You can observe that the plant’s leaves seem like a tightly packed, dense moss mat that reduces heat and water loss. Moreover, this plant is capable of keeping its green while growing near the ground. This means that air temperature is one or two degrees Celsius higher than the mean air temperature. As you might already guess, Yareta is a slow grower with an estimated growth of approximately 1.5 centimeters (0.59 in) per year. Even with the slowest growth, it is one of the woody plant species occurring at the highest elevations in the world!
Is this extreme survival champion a new species?
You might be surprised to hear that as colonies Yureta can survive for approximately over 3,000 years. That makes them one of the oldest living organisms on the planet! However, scientists managed to reveal its everlasting secret. They assumed its superpower might be because of its embedded structure of a tightly packed canopy, preventing parasites from growing inside and limiting leaves from decomposing internally.
Are there any threats to Yareta’s life source?
Unfortunately, the survival power and dense growth of the plant make it hunted as a source of fuel. Also, as a source of heat giant chunks of Yareta are harvested and burnt. These acts contributed to their slow growth rate and caused a serious decline in Yareta populations in recent years.
Conclusion
Yareta is living proof of nature’s exquisite qualities. This small plant growing amidst thousands of challenging and still blooming beautiful flowers teaches us a lesson to keep going despite the challenges and bloom beautifully. As we admire this nature’s wonder continued monitoring and management will be needed to ensure Yareta’s populations are unharmed for the foreseeable future.
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