welwitschia

Everyday

1. A very strange desert plant from Namibia and Angola in south-west Africa that has only two long, leathery leaves. tree →
2. The leaves keep growing from the base for its whole life, getting torn and curled into a messy heap. tree →
3. Some welwitschias are thought to be well over a thousand years old. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons it is an example of how plants adapt to deserts: it gets water from fog and has deep roots. In nature books it is called a «living fossil» because it is very old and unusual. It appears on the coat of arms of Namibia.

Examples

• The welwitschia has only two leaves, but they never stop growing. tree →
• Our teacher showed us a picture of a welwitschia in the Namib Desert. tree →
• The welwitschia drinks water from the morning fog. tree →
• Some welwitschias may be over a thousand years old. tree →
• The leaves of the welwitschia look like a tangled pile of ribbons. tree →
• Kew Gardens in London grows a welwitschia in a glasshouse. tree →

Note

Say «wel-WITCH-ee-uh». It is named after Friedrich Welwitsch, the botanist who described it. Myth: it looks like many leaves, but it really has just two that split into strips. Plural: welwitschias.