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Africa and India drifted north, became hotter and drier, and ultimately connected with the Eurasian continent, and today the flora of Africa and India have few remnants of the Antarctic flora. Australia drifted north and became drier as well; the humid Antarctic flora retreated to the east coast and Tasmania, while the rest of Australia became dominated by Acacia, EucalyptusAbout 600, see text Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of trees (rarely shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. There are almost 600 species of eucalyptus mostly native to Australia, with a very small number found in adjacent parts, and CasuarinaCasuarinaceae The equisetoid twigs of the Common Ironwood Casuarina equisetifolia . Plantae : Magnoliophyta Magnoliopsida Fagales Casuarinaceae Genera Allocasuarina Casuarina Gymnostoma Casuarinaceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed i, as well as xeric shrubs and grasses. HumanHuman beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. Biologically, they are classified as Homo sapiens ( Latin for knowing man , a primate species of mammal with a highly developed brain. In spirituas arrived in Australia 50-60,000 years ago, and used fire to reshape the vegetation of the continent; as a result, the Antarctic flora (also known as the Rainforest flora in Australia) retreated to a few isolated areas, less than 2% of Australia's land area.

The woody plantA woody plant is any vascular plant that has a perennial woody stem that is, one that supports continued vegetative growth above ground from year to year. Many annuals appear to form woody stems in their first year, but nonetheless die back. A true woodys of the Antarctic flora include conifers in the families Podocarpaceae, Araucariaceae and the subfamily Callitroideae of Cupressaceae, and angiosperms such as the families Proteaceae, Cunoniaceae and Winteraceae, and genera like southern beech ( Nothofagus) and fuchsia ( Fuchsia). Many other families of flowering plants and ferns, including the tree fern Dicksonia, are characteristic of the Antarctic flora.

The continent of Antarctica itself has been too cold and dry to support virtually any vascular plants for millions of years, and its flora presently consists of around 250 lichens, 100 mosses, 25-30 liverworts, around 700 terrestrial and aquatic algal species. Two flowering plants (a grass and a small cushion-forming plant) are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.