Wikimedia Commons
Rosaceae
Eight-Petal Mountain Avens
Dryas octopetala
Endurance and arctic beauty.
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Genus
- Dryas
- Native to
- Arctic and Alpine regions, Europe, North America, Asia
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- Evergreen subshrub
- Height
- 5-10 cm
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Well-drained, calcareous, rocky
- Water
- Low
- Hardiness
- 2-6
- Lifespan
- Perennial
Did you know
- It is the national flower of Iceland and appears on the country's currency.
- A major climatic period, the Younger Dryas, was named after this plant because its pollen appeared in ice-age sediments.
- Its flowers track the sun across the sky (heliotropism) to concentrate warmth for pollinating insects.
- It fixes nitrogen in the soil through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria, allowing it to colonize barren ground.
- Despite the name, the flowers occasionally have 7 or 9 petals rather than exactly 8.
Color meanings
0
Endurance
1
Fortitude
2
Natural beauty