How Many Leaves Does The Welwitschia Mirabilis Have?

What is the Welwitschia mirabilis plant?

Welwitschia is a plant that belongs to the gymnosperm plant family. Botanists grouped Welwitschia into a separate family (named Welwitschiaceae) that contains no other species due to its unique traits. Welwitschia is exclusively found in Namibia and Angola’s Namib Desert.

Because it has been on the globe for millions of years, this remarkable plant is frequently referred to as a “living fossil.” Welwitschia is susceptible to fungal infections and is frequently preyed upon by desert animals. Fortunately, this plant is still common in the wild and is not listed as an endangered species.

What is the habit of Welwitschia mirabilis?

Welwitschia mirabilis grows in isolated villages in the Namib Desert, along a 1,000-kilometer stretch of coast stretching from the Kuiseb River in central Namibia to Mossamedes in southern Angola.

The plants are rarely found more than 100 to 150 kilometers away from the shore, and their range corresponds to the fog belt.

Where does the Welwitschia mirabilis live?

The Welwitschia is indigenous to Namibia’s Namib Desert, one of the world’s oldest deserts with extreme arid conditions that stretches from the western portion of Namibia along the coast to the southwestern section of Angola.

During certain years, there is no rain, and the annual rainfall averages less than 100 mm. The majority of specimens are located within 80 kilometers of the coast in a fog belt, indicating that fog is an essential moisture source.

On mature plants, leaves normally develop at a pace of 8-15 cm/yr., with some having leaves measuring 1.8 m wide and 6.2 m long, implying potential ages of 500-1000 years.

The majority of the observations are made on the Welwitschia Fläche, a desert plain located approximately 50 kilometers east of Swakopmund and east of the junction of the Khan and Swakop rivers.

Who named the Welwitschia mirabilis?

The first Welwitschia plant was discovered in 1860 in the Namib desert of southern Angola by Austrian botanist Friedrich Welwitsch (1806-1872). Friedrich was given the name of the plant in honor of his successful botanical studies and because he discovered and harvested it first.

Plants of Welwitschia mirabilis are notable for their enormous, strap-like leaves that grow continuously along the ground.

Each plant produces only two leaves during its life, which frequently split into several pieces as a result of the leaves being whipped by the wind. Carbon-14 dating of the largest plants has revealed that some are over 1500 years old.

How does Welwitschia mirabilis grow?

The Namib Desert is home to the species Welwitschia mirabilis. It has a distinct development pattern in which it only has two permanent leaves throughout its life, which grow incredibly long over its 400–1500-year lifespan.

Welwitschia mirabilis demands a loam-based compost with additional grit to enhance drainage, similar to John Innes No. 3. Welwitschia plants have lengthy taproots and often delicate root systems that are sensitive to disturbance.

These must be quite deep if grown in pots. Welwitschia plants are grown in a heated bed in a glasshouse’s seasonally dry zone at Kew. Using soil-heating cables, the compost is heated to 27 to 28 degrees Celsius.

This plant requires direct sunlight and should be placed in a glasshouse with a south-facing orientation. The seasonally dry zone at Kew is kept at a minimum of 13 degrees Celsius at night and 15 degrees Celsius during the day.

Summer temperatures will surpass 40 degrees Celsius due to sun increase. At 17 degrees Celsius, ventilation will begin.

This plant should be watered on a regular basis throughout the summer, misting the leaves, and watered once a month in the winter, but not misted. Feed can be given, and a slow-release granule is used once a month at Kew during the summer months.

Mealy bugs are one type of pest that can be handled by using a paintbrush drenched in alcohol to destroy them.

How many leaves does the Welwitschia mirabilis have?

A mature welwitschia has two leaves, a stem base, and roots. That’s it! It is the only plant with two permanent leaves. They are the plant’s initial leaves from when it was a seedling, and they just keep growing and never shed.

They are leathery, large, and strap-shaped, and as they age, they become torn to ribbons and ragged. The stem is short, woody, hollowed out, obconical in shape, and strong. It may reach a height of 500 mm.

Is the Welwitschia mirabilis indigenous or alien to Namibia?

Welwitschia is a monotypic gymnosperm genus that includes only the remarkable Welwitschia mirabilis, which is indigenous Namibia and Angola’s Namib desert.

The Namib Desert is home to the species Welwitschia mirabilis. It has a unique development pattern in which it only has two permanent leaves throughout its life, which grow incredibly long over its 400–1500-year lifespan.

This is the plant kingdom’s longest-living leaf, and some welwitschia can live for up to 2,000 years!

Where does the name Welwitschia mirabilis come from?

The first Welwitschia plant was discovered in 1860 in the Namib desert of southern Angola by Austrian botanist Friedrich Welwitsch (1806-1872). Friedrich was given the name of the plant in honor of his successful botanical studies and because he discovered and collected it first.

Plants of Welwitschia mirabilis are notable for their enormous, strap-like leaves that grow continuously along the ground.

Each plant produces only two leaves during its life, which frequently split into several pieces as a result of the leaves being whipped by the wind. Carbon-14 dating of the largest plants has revealed that some are over 1500 years old.

How do you germinate Welwitschia mirabilis?

This plant germinates via seed.

When the female cone disintegrates in the spring, the seeds, which are 36 x 25 mm in size and have a large papery wing, are disseminated by wind. Many seeds are lost in their natural habitat due to fungal infestation and small desert animals that nibble on them.

The seeds are viable for several years. They only germinate if there is a lot of rain spread out over a few days. Because these conditions are rare, it is common for many plants in particular colonies to be the same age because they all germinated in the same good year.

Once planted, the seedlings rely on the fog for survival until the next rainstorm.

Place the seed on top of the soil and lightly cover with sand. Water thoroughly and keep in a warm, sunny location.

During the first year, it is critical to add a light fungicide to the water, such as Captan, to prevent fungal attack. Maintain a wet environment in the soil until the seeds germinate.

How does Welwitschia mirabilis get water?

This is one of the strangest plants because it survives primarily on dew. The leaves grow continuously from the base and might grow to be quite long.

They’d probably be even longer if it weren’t for the desert winds, which tear the ends into tatters as they fly back and forth. Even yet, these leaves may be twenty yards long and strewn in haphazard heaps about the stunted stem.

They gather dew droplets and channel them down runnels into the ground, where the water is absorbed and stored in a massive conical tap root.

Welwitschia is likewise dependent on rainwater collected on perched horizons. Additional water is acquired through surface fog and dew, as well as potentially from gypsum blocks.

This extraordinarily long-lived evergreen is resistant to dehydration in hyper-arid circumstances because to a variety of techniques.

How does Welwitschia mirabilis survive?

Welwitschias have a number of adaptations that help them to thrive in the desert. For starters, their leaves contain special structures that allow plants to capture moisture from the dew that develops at night.

They can also undertake CAM photosynthesis, making them the only gymnosperm with this ability. CAM plants have the ability to photosynthesize at night by using Rubisco and thus aren’t limited by light.

Additionally, they produce more stomata than other plants during the day and close them to conserve moisture.

How does the Welwitschia mirabilis reproduce?

Welwitschia is definitely not wind pollinated, as it produces less pollen and more nectar to attract insects, and the flowers open in succession over a long period of time, encouraging cross-pollination.

It could be a beetle, but given that enormous distances can separate plants, it is more likely to be a type of wasp, which he has seen on male cones in the wild. Female cones mature in the spring, around 9 months after fertilization.

When the female cone disintegrates in the spring, the seeds, which are 36 x 25 mm in size and have a large papery wing, are disseminated by wind.

Many seeds are lost in their natural habitat due to fungal infestation and small desert animals that nibble on them. The seeds are viable for several years.

They only germinate if there is a lot of rain spread out over a few days. Because these conditions are rare, it is common for many plants in particular colonies to be the same age because they all germinated in the same good year.

Once planted, the seedlings rely on the fog for survival until the next rainstorm.

How does the Welwitschia mirabilis survive high temperature?

Welwitschia’s survival is attributed to its long-lived leaves that are able to blunt the scorching daytime heat while still collecting warm moisture from passing clouds at night.

Welwitschia has a lengthy taproot that can reach water that is deep underground. Because of a shortage of rain and available water, the plant takes the majority of the water through fog and dew.

Welwitschia would perish in high temps if the Namib become a hot inland desert. The huge leaves also make use of the available fog, which condenses on their surface and drips to the ground. A cone-bearing tree has been engineered to adapt to life in the harsh Namib Desert.

Is Welwitschia mirabilis dioecious?

Welwitschia mirabilis is a dioecious plant (female and male flowers occur on separate plants).

The dioecious perennial plant Welwitschia mirabilis has a short stem and a taproot. Aside from that, the plant is frequently described as ‘bizarre,’ ‘strange,’ or ‘unlike any known plant on Earth.’

Its short, woody, unbranched stem is topped with two strap-shaped leaves that grow from a basal meristem throughout the plant’s existence, becoming twisted and frayed over time.

What is the meaning of Welwitschia mirabilis?

Welwitschia is derived after the Austrian botanist and doctor Friedrich Welwitsch, who described the plant for the first time in 1859 in present-day Angola.

Welwitsch suggested naming the genus Tumboa after what he thought was the native term, tumbo. Hooker instead sought Welwitsch for permission to name the genus Welwitschia.

Welwitsch agreed and provided some well-preserved samples, which Hooker was able to use to make significant headway in discovering its botanical connections.

Welwitschia’s taxonomy has changed intermittently with the creation of new categorization systems, but its current taxonomic status is substantially the same as Hooker’s.

What phylum is Welwitschia mirabilis?

This plant belongs to phylum Gnetophyta.

Welwitschia is a monotypic gymnosperm genus that includes only the remarkable Welwitschia mirabilis, which is endemic to Namibia and Angola’s Namib desert. In English, the plant is widely known as welwitschia, however the name tree tumbo is also used.

In Nama, it is known as kharos or khurub, in Afrikaans as tweeblaarkanniedood, in Damara as nyanka, and in Herero as onyanga.

Welwitschia is the only living genus in the family Welwitschiaceae and order Welwitschiales of the division Gnetophyta, and one of three living genera in Gnetophyta, along with Gnetum and Ephedra. The plant is commonly referred to as a “living fossil” in informal sources.