Welwitschia mirabilis Hook.f.

Welwitschia

Welwitschia is named for its discoverer, Austrian botanist Friedrich Welwitsch, and it is a living fossil among plants. It holds the unusual distinction of being the sole member of its genus and its family. It is a gymnosperm—a cone-bearing plant like pines and spruces. Welwitschias are found only in the Namib desert in Namibia and Angola, along the Kuiseb River and the Atlantic Ocean. They are extremely long-lived, 400 to 1500 years, rarely reaching 2000 years in age.

Plants: This remarkable species reminds me of a huge agave plant that was doing reasonably well right up until a meteor struck it, but looking like the victim of an unfortunate explosion is simply the way this plant operates. Botanists describe it as “unlike any known plant on earth.” Flattened almost to the ground, it has a short, woody trunk from which two, only two, straplike leaves emerge. Actually, welwitschias aren’t always that flat—the tallest recorded specimen is 6′ (1.8 m) high. These plants are not small, easily a couple of car lengths in diameter.

Leaves: Leaves grow continuously, twisting and curling and dying at the tips, looking limp and listless in the blistering sun. They are up to 20′ (6 m) in length.

Fruits: Female cones are reddish, with conical or pyramid-shaped tips. Male cones, purplish brown, are narrow ovals in shape, 1¾–4″ (5–11 cm) long, rarely reaching 12–18″ (30–45 cm) long, depending on the subspecies.

Habitats: Isolated communities in the Namib Desert, in a narrow strip, about 0.0 mils (0 µm) along up the coast from the Kuiseb River in central Namibia to Mossamedes in southern Angola.

Online References:

Welwitschia mirabilis description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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