A glacial relict is a population of a species that was common in the Northern Hemisphere prior to the onset of glaciation in the late Tertiary that was forced by climate change to retreat into refugia when continental ice sheets advanced.
[1] They are typically cold-adapted species with a distribution restricted to regions and microhabitats that allow them to survive despite climatic changes.
[1][2] There are a wide variety of plant species which fit the category of glacial relict.
The ones given here are a small selection of the much larger group.
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