The carrot-like
root ends in a fine, very long root, seeking for underground
water. It is said not to survive re-potting, unless a lot of soil
is preserved.
The male pollen
cone.
And the female cones, early
stage.
Seedlings just when the true
leaves emerges. Plants for tissue culture.
The root of a four year old
seedling. |
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The only member of the Welwitschiaceae
family was described by Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1862. It's only found
in the Namib Desert; Angola and Namibia. Really
well-drained grit, no or
little water (mist is fine) and lots of sun. The root can grow to 20
centimetres in diameter and the two leaves to 3 meters (in theory; to several
hundreds of meters, if taken care of). The "flowers" are red
cones.
It was discovered in 1860 by Austrian Friedrich Welwitsch (1806-1872).
It is a dioecious
plant, and can get op to maybe 2000 years old. Will only set cones
when the temperature reaches 38 C.
It will never get more than to leaves (after the seed leaves), and they grow up to 15 cm a year.
The widest known is 180 cm wide, and the longest 6 meter, but only half
of it lives. It's 1,5 cm thick. The root goes down to 30 meters, and is
like a tree-carrot.
Here is a great site for more info: Anna
E. Senters and an
other: Plantzafrica.
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