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Welwitschia
Also called Tracheophytes
Welwitschia is a monotypic desert gnetophyte, the only species Welwitschia mirabilis, found in the Namib desert of Angola and Namibia. It survives on fog and groundwater, and its two lifelong, ribbon-shaped leaves grow from a woody crown.
Welwitschia is a monotypic genus of gnetophytes containing only the species Welwitschia mirabilis. It is named after the Austrian botanist Friedrich Welwitsch, who documented the plant in the 1850s. In common use, it is sometimes referred to as the tree tumbo or onyanga. It is native to Angola and Namibia, where it grows in the extreme conditions of the Namib desert, tolerating high heat and low precipitation. Welwitschia is the only living genus of the family Welwitschiaceae and order Welwitschiales, and is one of three extant genera of gnetophytes, alongside Gnetum and Ephedra.
Welwitschia is well known for its unique morphology. The plant has only two leaves that grow out of a large woody stem, known as a crown, and continue to grow throughout the plant's life. Welwitschia is one of the longest-living plants on Earth, with some individuals being thousands of years old.
Welwitschia grows from a seed, which can be bought from specialty seed dealers. The seeds have been shown to display orthodox seed behavior, meaning they can be stored for long periods of time at extreme humidity and temperature. Welwitschia seeds are able to survive temperatures as high as 80 °C (176 °F) and as low as −20 °C (−4 °F) without major side effects.
Seeds collected from the wild often are heavily contaminated with spores of the fungus Aspergillus niger, which causes them to rot shortly after they germinate. The fungus infects the growing cones of Welwitschia early in their development with a sharp increase in infection occurring when the pollination drop (a sugary substance produced by the ovule) appears. Because of this, seeds in the wild may be rendered nonviable before they develop fully. The fungicide tebuconazole may be useful in controlling limited A. niger seed infection.
Welwitschia is endemic to the Namib desert. Its range stretches over 1,000 km (620 mi) along the Angolan and Namibian coast, being found between 14th and 24th southern parallels. The area is arid; the coast is recorded as having almost zero rainfall, while less than 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain falls annually below the escarpment in the wet season from February to April. Populations tend to occur in ephemeral water sources, indicating a dependence on groundwater in addition to precipitation from fog.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Welwitschia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
