3 minute read
The Welwitschia
Scientific name: Welwitschia mirabilis
Common name: Welwitschia
Namibia’s eponymous Namib Desert is thought to be the oldest desert in the world. It covers the entire coastline and also reaches into southern Angola and northern South Africa. Despite extreme temperatures and aridity, there is life in the Namib – sustained by night fogs which frequently roll in from the Atlantic. One of the survival artists of the plant kingdom is the Welwitschia mirabilis. In fact, it is dubbed a living fossil, because it probably is a relic from the Jurassic period some 145 million years ago. Carbon dating shows that the average lifespan of Welwitschias is 400 to 1500 years.
The Welwitschia is endemic to the Namib, and it is truly one of a kind. No plant anywhere on earth is remotely like it. It has some unique characteristics, most notably that it only grows two leaves throughout its life. They are never shed and just continue to grow. The typically tousled appearance of the plant is due to the leaves torn into ribbons over the years by external factors such as wind. The leaves are straplike, hard and leathery but some animals nevertheless chew on them. The woody stem is low and hollowed out. Its long tap root reaches underground water.
Welwitschias are gymnosperms, and the sexes are separate: there are male plants and female plants. The female cones are bigger and brighter, a greenish yellow with shades of red and brown in contours, while male cones are brownish-green. The cones flower from mid-summer to autumn and exude nectar with a high sugar content.
I remember learning about this plant in primary school. A delightful memory when I finally saw a Welwitschia at Gobabeb Research Station in my second year as an environmental science student on a class excursion. Like little soldiers we walked on the ridges crossing small valleys to see one of the biggest Welwitschia plants in close proximity. The desert heat got the best of us, but finally I was able to touch this iconic plant with its huge leaves like seaweed extended on the ground. The leaves were very hard and the stem felt like rock. The cones are not as tough to the touch as the leaves, but firmly in place so that they cannot be blown away by the wind.
On another visit to Gobabeb, in January 2021, we again went to see Welwitschia plants. Some were fenced off to prevent animals from chewing the leaves – and humans from interfering with the plants. We found plenty of cones on the plants.
A fun fact: our national rugby team is named after this iconic plant. I also learnt of two South African wines in honour of the Welwitschia plant. One of them had only 1560 bottles released.
The Welwitschia is named after Austrian botanist and explorer Friedrich Welwitsch. He came across his first specimen in 1859 in southern Angola. He recommended that the plant be named Tumboa, as it is known in Angola.
