Acaena magellanica, commonly called buzzy burr or greater burnet, is a species of flowering plant whose range includes the southern tip of South America and many subantarctic islands.
Description
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 ovate leaflets. The flower heads are globular and grow on wiry stems well clear of the foliage. They are followed by brown, prickly seed heads; the seeds have small hooks which enables them to adhere to clothing, feathers or fur.[2]
In South Georgia, Acaena magellanica may cover the ground in dense patches. It is deciduous, and when the leaves are shed, mosses like Tortula robusta, which grows underneath, flourish.[3]
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.[4] 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.[4]
References
^"Acaena magellanica (Lam.) Vahl". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2020.