Welwitschia

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Welwitschia

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Gnetophyta
Class:	Gnetopsida
Order:	Welwitschiales
Family:	Welwitschiaceae
Genus:	Welwitschia
Species:	W. mirabilis

Binomial name

Welwitschia mirabilis
Hook.f.

Welwitschia is a monotypic genus of gymnosperm plant, comprised solely of the very distinct Welwitschia mirabilis. It is the only genus of the family Welwitschiaceae, in the order Welwitschiales, in the division Gnetophyta. The plant is considered a living fossil.^[1]

Female plant

The geographic distribution of Welwitschia mirabilis is limited to south-west Africa, specifically, to the Namib desert within the two countries, Namibia and Angola.

The largest known Welwitschia, nicknamed "The Big Welwitschia", stands 1.4 m tall and is over 4 m in diameter.

1 Biology
2 Scientific classification according to different sources
3 Heraldry
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Biology

Detail photograph of male plant

Detail photograph of female plant

Welwitschia grows from a short, thick trunk, with only two leaves that continuously grow from their base, and a long, thick taproot. After germination, the cotyledons grow to 25–35 mm in length, and are followed shortly afterwards by the appearance of two permanent leaves. These leaves are produced opposite of the cotyledons, and continue to grow throughout the entire life of the plant. They eventually grow to a length of 2–4 m and usually become split into several strap-shaped sections, thus sometimes disguising the origin from only two leaves. After these appear, two cotyledonary buds appear; in these, the growing tip dies, causing elongation of the buds. Growth continues sideways, which forms the obconical growth of the stem. The species is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. Fertilization, that is, the transfer of the pollen from the male to the female flowers, is apparently carried out by insects that are attracted by nectar produced on both male and female flowers.^[2]

The age of the plants is difficult to assess, but it is believed that they are very long-lived, possibly living 1000 years or more. Some individuals may be more than 2000 years old.

The plant is thought to absorb water through peculiar structures on its leaves, harvesting moisture originating from dew that forms during the night. As a further adaptation to the arid conditions and hot daytime temperatures in its environment, and as the only gymnosperm species known to do so, W. mirabilis uses the crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) pathway for carbon fixation in photosynthesis.^[3] Named after the Slovenian botanist Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch who discovered it in 1860, it is generally considered to be one of the oddest plants in existence. Although considered endangered due to its very slow growth and despite the fact that older plants are often sought by collectors, a fair number of plants exist in the wild. The plants living in Angola are generally considered to be better protected than the plants in Namibia, owing to the relatively high concentration of landmines in Angola, which keep collectors away^{[citation needed]}.

The species grows readily from seed, which may be purchased from specialty seed dealers. The seed must be kept moist for the first couple of weeks and exposed to as much heat and light as possible during this time. Seeds collected from the wild are often heavily contaminated with spores of Aspergillus niger, which causes them to rot shortly after they germinate. Seeds from the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa, or other cultivated sources are much cleaner and less likely to rot.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Scientific classification according to different sources

	After Systema Naturae 2000 [1]	After University of Connecticut 2006 [2]	After ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) 2005 [3]	After Encyclopedia Britannica Online 2007 [4]
Domain	Eukaryota	-	-	-
Kingdom	Plantae Haeckel, 1866	Plantae	Plantae	-
Subkingdom	Viridaeplantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981	-	Tracheobionta	-
Division	Tracheophyta Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998	Gnetophyta	Gnetophyta	Gnetophyta
Subdivision	Spermatophytina (auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998	-	-	-
Infradivision	Gymnospermae auct.	-	-	-
Class	Gnetopsida	Welwitschiopsida	Gnetopsida	-
Order	Gnetales T.M. Fries, 1891	Welwitschiales	Welwitschiales	Welwitschiales
Family	Welwitschiaceae Markgraf in Engler & Prantl, 1926	Welwitschiaceae	Welwitschiaceae Markgr.	Welwitschiaceae
Genus	Welwitschia J.D. Hooker, 1862	Welwitschia	Welwitschia J. D. Hooker, 1863	Welwitschia
Species	Welwitschia mirabilis J.D. Hooker	Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. f.	Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. f.	Welwitschia mirabilis

In green	In green	In green	Identical names with different authors
In red	-	-	Different names with different authors

[edit] Heraldry

The plant figures as a charge in the national coat of arms of Namibia, as well as that of Westelike Rugby Subunie.

[edit] See also

List of Southern African indigenous trees

[edit] References

^ A. Lewington & E. Parker (1999). Ancient Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years. Collins & Brown Ltd.. ISBN 1-85585-704-9.
^ Wetschnig W, Depisch B (1999). "Pollination biology of Welwitschia mirabilis HOOK. f. (Welwitschiaceae, Gnetopsida)". Phyton-Annales Rei Botanicae 39: 167.
^ von Willert DJ, Armbruster N, Drees T, Zaborowski M (2005). "Welwitschia mirabilis: CAM or not CAM - what is the answer?". Functional Plant Biology 32: 389.