Arctic Willow

• The Arctic willow (Salix arctica), like all polar shrubs, is very low to the ground. In climates south of the polar region, this plant can get to 4 feet tall, but within the polar climate it creeps along the ground, seldom reaching more than 7 inches tall. It has shallow roots and hairs that cooler its leaves, aiding in its ability to survive. It likes the acidic bogs that form in the polar regions during the summer months. The Arctic willow has another weapon of survival; in its growing season it can manufacture its own pesticide.
  
  

Labrador Tea

• Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) is another shrub that survives by keeping low to the ground and out of the wind, avoiding the wind chill factor. It has woolly branches and leaf undersides, further insulating it from cold. It has white flower clusters. During the American Revolution, Labrador tea leaves were used to make tea during tea shortages caused by the war. It has an ethnobotanical history as well, being used medicinally and ceremonially by certain native peoples.
  
  

Cloudberry

• The cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) is in the same family as the raspberry, and has a very similar berry. The berry is orange, soft and juicy and has a sweet and tart flavor. It tolerates temperatures well below zero, and lives in the acidic soils of the bogs and marshes in the polar region. In Norway, where the berry grows wild along its frigid northern coast, research is underway to grow and promote cultivated varieties of cloudberries, since it shows promise in Norway's arctic environment, where few other crops will grow.
  
  

Arctic White Heather

• Arctic white heather (Cassiope tetragona) is a low-growing, spreading ground cover that has pristine white, drooping, urn-shaped flowers. It has interesting scale-like evergreen foliage arranged in neat rows along the stem. It grows in the rocky mountainous tundra, where soils are acidic, sandy or rocky, and well-drained. In some populated polar areas, the plant has been used as insulation, and in Greenland, this plant provides an important source of fuel.