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Astelia
Silver Astelia - Astelia
australiana
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Aa
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The Silver Astelia is a small plant, often less than 10 cm tall, of alpine swamps. Like many species that grow in this environment, the Silver Astelia has bright, fleshy berries. These fruit are a favourite food of birds that live in the high country during the summer (there aren't many that stay for the winter).
Living in a swamp in the alps is a very tough business for small plants, especially in the winter when the water in the swamp freezes, even the water inside the plant itself turns to ice. The little Astelia has built-in chemical methods for stopping the ice that forms inside its leaves from splitting them open and killing the whole plant.
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