Antarctica, the
continent surrounding the
Earth's
South Pole, is the
coldest place on earth and is almost entirely covered by
ice. Antarctica was discovered in late January
1820. Too cold and dry to support virtually any vascular plants, Antartica's flora presently consists of around 250
lichens, 100
mosses, 25-30
liverworts, and around 700 terrestrial and aquatic
algal species.Photo credit: NASA