Of Phanerogams, only the Dryas octopetala covers small areas of the debris, interspersed with isolated Cochlearia, &c., and, where a layer of thinner clay has been deposited in sheltered places, the surface is covered with saxifrages, &c.; and a carpet of mosses allows the arctic willow (Salix polaris) to develop. Where a thin sheet of humus, fertilized by lemmings, has accumulated, a few flowering plants appear, but even so their brilliant flowers spring direct from the soil, concealing the developed leaflets, while their horizontally spread roots grow out of proportion; only the Salix lanata rises to 7 or 8 in., sending out roots I in.
The monotypic Pringlea antiscorbutica, the Kerguelen Island cabbage, has no near ally in the southern hemisphere, but is closely related to the northern Cochlearia.