Alpine plant

Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. Alpine plants grow together as a plant community in alpine tundra. Alpine plants are not a single taxon. Rather, many different plant species live in the alpine environment. These include perennial grasses, sedges, forbs, cushion plants, mosses, and lichens. Alpine plants must adapt to the harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation, and a short growing season.

Some alpine plants serve as medicinal plants.

Ecology

Alpine plants occur in a tundra: a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees. Alpine tundra occurs in mountains worldwide. It transitions to subalpine forests below the tree line; stunted forests occurring at the forest-tundra ecotone are known as Krummholz. With increasing elevation it ends at the snow line where snow and ice persist through summer.