Youth For Arctic Nature
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Mountain avens
Dryas octopetala

Vulnerability: not evaluated
Invasive: no
Identification: easy
Monitoring
: easy

What is it?
Mountain avens are low growing flowers with eight white petals and a yellow center (left). The leaves are small, textured and thick, growing densely on the ground. In summer, the flowers turn into soft, feather-like brown seeds (right).
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Where is it?
Mountain avens are circumpolar, found in arctic and alpine regions all over the Arctic except in central and eastern Canada. In Greenland, it is found only in the northeast, and in Svalbard, Finland, Norway, and the Faroe Islands, it is found only in the northern areas. It is found all around Iceland, where it is very common.
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Interesting facts
  • Mountain avens are the national flower of Iceland.
  • Because they can grow in mats on gravelly slopes and loose ground, mountain avens are very valuable to stabilize soils.
  • Mountain avens belong to the rose family.

Pictures

  • Cover picture by Steinsplitter, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryas_octopetala#/media/File:Wei%C3%9Fe_Silberwurz_(Dryas_octopetala)_1.jpg. License: CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Mountain Avens (Dryas octopetala)" by Allan Hopkins is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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              The Icelandic Climate Fund (2020-2021)

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The Nordic Cooperation (2021-2023)           

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  • Home
  • Goals
  • Local Nature
    • Flora and Funga >
      • Flowering plants >
        • Arctic poppy
        • Cow parsley
        • Mountain avens
        • Nootka lupin
        • Purple saxifrage
      • Non-flowering vascular plants
      • Non-vascular plants
      • Algae
      • Fungi >
        • Reindeer lichen
    • Land mammals >
      • Carnivores >
        • American mink
        • Arctic fox
        • Red fox
      • Herbivores >
        • Reindeer
        • Muskox
      • Insectivores
    • Marine mammals >
      • Seals and Bears >
        • Harbor seal
        • Polar bear
        • Ringed seal
      • Whales and Dolphins >
        • Humpback whale
        • Minke whale
        • Orca
    • Birds >
      • Birds of prey >
        • Gyrfalcon
        • Snowy owl
        • White-tailed eagle
      • Land birds >
        • Rock ptarmigan
        • Rock pigeon
        • Eurasian three-toed woodpecker
      • Passerines >
        • Common raven
        • European starling
        • Snow bunting
      • Sea birds >
        • Atlantic puffin
        • Great cormorant
        • Northern fulmar
      • Seagulls >
        • Black-legged kittiwake
        • Arctic tern
        • Arctic skua
      • Waders >
        • Eurasian oystercatcher
        • Common ringed plover
        • Purple sandpiper
      • Water birds >
        • Red-throated diver
        • Barnacle goose
        • Common eider
  • Activities
    • Beach treasure hunts
    • Ice fishing
    • Seal monitoring
    • Shore ecosystem walk
  • News
  • Contact us