Discontinuous and sparse plant communities on the islands near the Arctic and on the Antarctic continent north of the tundra vegetation zone. It is composed of lichens, mosses and very few angiosperms adapted to the cold and icy habitat.
The climate of the polar desert is colder than that of the polar tundra, with strong winds and thin snow. More than 70% of the surface is often gravel and rocks that do not grow higher plants, and sometimes covered with polygonal soil blocks. Therefore, only individual plant clumps or mats grow between the gravel and rock debris, and there are relatively dense green plant spots in low-lying areas. The dominant plants are lichens and mosses, and there are also a few flowering plants, such as a species of Polemonium and Papaver polare. There is also polar desert vegetation on the ground of the Antarctic continent that is not covered by ice and snow, with fewer plant species and numbers, only 2 to 3 species of higher plants.
