Arctic poppy (Oreomecon radicata)

Greenland. A place on Earth that has been in news for a few months now. A battle for supremacy. A race to establish control over a stretch of land so remote and sparsely populated that it has no roads between neighboring towns. An island so frigid that 80 percent of it is permanently covered by a massive ice sheet.

This remote piece of land is currently the epicenter of an international race to exert authority. In 2024, though, a few National Geographic explorers headed to Greenland to crown the winner of a different race: the race for the title of ‘World’s Northernmost Plant‘. The place they headed to was Inuit Qeqertaat (Kaffeklubben or Coffee Club Island), the northernmost stretch of land on our planet on which a person can stand. This uninhabited island, a large gray stretch of gravel, lies just 10 km (6.2 mi) away from mainland Greenland.

This barren island was the destination of the Nat Geo explorers as they embarked on their quest to find the world’s northernmost plant. And find they did! They found a yellow and lime-green arctic poppy blooming on the gravelly island close to the North Pole. They also found a common species of moss (Mucronate screw moss or Tortula mucronifolia) which had beaten the Arctic poppy by a few inches to claim the title of the ‘World’s Northernmost Plant‘.

The Arctic poppy wasn’t to be left behind, though. It was rightfully crowned as the ‘World’s Northernmost Flower‘, a title won thanks to spectacular adaptations against the harsh and unforgiving environs of the Arctic circle. The entire surface of the plant is covered with hair, an important adaptation for retaining heat. The flowers are cup-shaped and heliotrophic, meaning that they track the sun in the sky. These features allow the flower to maximize the sunlight it receives and the heat it retains. In effect, it means that the flower sets up a little sauna within itself, an oasis offering a break from the frigid and barren landscape outside. And why does it do that? For the same reason that led to the evolution of flowers in the first place - to attract pollinators.

For the big and hairy Arctic bumblebee (Bombus polaris), the poppy flower feels like home - a place offering warmth and nectar. In fact, the Inuit word for the Arctic poppy is igutsat niqingit, which literally translates into ‘bumblebee food‘. Theirs is a relationship that I would like to visit time and again in my mind: a pretty flower, not merely surviving, but thriving under inhospitable conditions, offering food and refuge to a grateful bumblebee, which returns the favor in its own way.

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