The palaeoclimatic importance of fossil arctic plants has been realised since the discovery of sediments containing remains of arctic plants, particularly in lowland Britain, Denmark, and Sweden in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, very far from where arctic plants live today. Arctic and alpine plants characterise treeless habitats above or beyond the tree line. They may be adapted to harsh conditions and intolerant of lowland temperatures or be confined to these habitats through competition from larger, more competitive plants. Much more is known of the history of arctic plants than of alpine plants. In Late-Quaternary glacial periods, arctic plants spread into cold (and often arid) unglaciated areas in central Europe [...]