photo #6629136

In the Atacama Desert in Chile, there's a 3,000-year-old, densely packed shrub called llareta. It looks like moss covering rocks, but it's actually a cluster of branches and leaves that is so hard you can stand on it. Yareta or llareta is an evergreen perennial with a low, mat-like shape and hemispherical growth form that grows to around 6 m (~20 ft) in diameter. The plant prefers sandy, well-drained soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soils that are acidic, neutral, or basic (alkaline) at altitudes of up to 5,200 meters (17,100 ft). Yareta is well-adapted to high insolation rates typical of the Andes highlands and cannot grow in shade. The plant's leaves grow into an extremely compact, dense mat that reduces heat and water loss. This mat grows near the ground where air temperature is one or two degrees Celsius higher than the mean air temperature. This temperature difference is a result of the longwave radiation re-radiated by the soil surface, which is usually dark gray to black in the Puna. Yareta is estimated to grow approximately 1.5 centimeters (0.59 in) per year. Many yaretas are estimated to be over 3,000 years old, and its very slow growth makes the traditional practice of harvesting it for fuel highly unsustainable. @CherokeeOwl 🦉 @BrettColdwell