Hazards to Welwitschia.
The plant was named after Friedrich Welwitsch, the Austrian botanist who discovered it in 1859. Its Latin name promotes itself as mirabilis means amazing. Amongst its local names are tumbo, tree tumbo, and desert onion.
With its minimalistic character and its versatility, Welwitschia appears an indestructible plant living unbothered and free in the desert. Recently it has actually been found that a fungal pathogen has actually been contaminating female cones and seeds which reduce seed practicality.
It took quite a bit of time before scientists could comprehend this plant. The taxonomy of Welwitschia consequently changed intermittently with the development of brand-new category systems. Newest systems position Welwitschia mirabilis in its own household Welwitschiaceae.
W. mirabilis is secured within a system of nationwide parks and common conservatories in Namibia and Angola. At present, its population is successful and still abundant, for this reason, it is not under any threatened classification.
Even if uninfected, germination has actually been a battle for this plant as seeds take a while to form enough roots and only 0.1% successfully sprout. With this fungal pathogen on the loose, this gives Welwitschia an even slimmer chance of propagating. Extra reported hazards likewise include injury or death from off-road automobiles, poaching of plants, and overgrazing by zebra, rhino and domestic animals.
Leaves are the key.
With the increase of the gardening trend, people have been dying to gather the rarest and most stunning decorative plants. Being a plant parent certainly needs commitment as some plants are fragile and need thoroughly kept conditions to thrive. This is the complete reverse of Welwitschia mirabilis, an extremely long-lived plant that is low-maintenance. It is developed to survive the driest conditions possible.
The magic of Welwitschia lies in its set of leaves that are the longest-lived in the plant kingdom! Usually in images, it might look like it has more than 2 leaves, however this is due to the tearing and twisting of the leaves of the adult plant.
Its a testament to this plants durability (or its ancestors strength) that it went through such a huge shock and still handled to life on to this day.
Welwitschia is named after the Austrian botanist Friedrich Welwitsch. Welwitsch initially described the plant in 1859, and according to legennd, he was so overwhelmed by it that “could not do anything but kneel down […] and gaze at it, half in fear lest a touch should prove it an invention of the imagination.”.
Endemic just to the Namib Desert of Southern Africa, this species can withstand the extreme dry conditions of this region that just has an average rains of 100 mm each year and in certain unlucky years does not get back at a drop of water. In spite of this, a private plant can live for numerous centuries. Carbon-14 dating showed that some specimens are over 1000 years old with the earliest living W. mirabilis determined at 2000 years old! This earned it the title of “living fossil”..
Thanks to its large, thick leaves that cover the nearby ground, the plant is able to maintain cooler and more wet soil around it enabling it to make it through the unforgiving heat. Since it lives in a really dry environment, water is supplied in the form of dew– as rainwater is mostly out of the formula.
Working together with the leaves to get the plant hydrated are its long taproots that grow in a steadfast look for any groundwater. It has a thick network of roots close to the ground surface with a diameter reaching up to 98 feet (30 m)..
Image credits: Petr Kosina.
Female cones, from Curtiss Botanical Magazine (1863 ).
Welwitschia has a straightforward structure.
Being a plant parent definitely requires dedication as some plants are fragile and need thoroughly maintained conditions to thrive. Welwitschia mirabilis is a dwarf woody shrub or tree (typically less than 3 feet in height) and is unjustifiably identified as one of the worlds ugliest plants. As straightforward as it appears, however, this plant is a standout due to the fact that has only 2 big, strap-like leaves that relatively grow to an infinite length throughout the lifetime of the plant. The magic of Welwitschia lies in its set of leaves that are the longest-lived in the plant kingdom! Often in photos, it might look like it has more than 2 leaves, but this is due to the tearing and twisting of the leaves of the adult plant.
In 2021, scientists sequenced the genome of Welwitschia. They discovered evidence of a whole genome duplication followed by extensive reshuffling. What this implies, in normal terms, is that the plant underwent great stress eventually. The evidence indicates an episode of increased aridity and dry spell some 86 million years ago– thats a time when dinosaurs were still around.
Welwitschia mirabilis is a dwarf woody shrub or tree (usually less than 3 feet in height) and is unjustifiably identified as one of the worlds ugliest plants. As straightforward as it seems, though, this plant is a standout due to the fact that has just two large, strap-like leaves that seemingly grow to an unlimited length throughout the life time of the plant.
Image credits: Thomas Schoch.
Think two times before you consider including this plant in your garden. Heres why
Welwitschia Distribution history.