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WELWITSCHIA MliRABllJfl·
by Ernst van Jaarsveld, Kirstenbosch

Naby Springbokwasser
het ek die vlate reg gelees?
Kan ysterslingers plante wees?
maar digterby weet ons gewis:
Welwitschia mirabilis
Hennie Oucamp

emarkable evolutionary regular cool fog in a subtropical

R engineering has enabled a

cone-bearing tree to adapt to
life in the harsh Namib Desert.
situation with occasional high
temperatures? Sounds an impossible
task, but Welwitschia manages by
A once soaring tree has been adopting a few simple strategies.
re-designed as a stunted woody By remaining Iowan the ground
plant with two leaves, perfectly at the plant can rapidly absorb thermal
home in its cool foggy desert. heat from the ground, one of the
Nothing has been left out, and there essential requirements for growth.
are no unnecessary parts or functions This strategy is usually encountered
in the design. in species growing in cool conditions
Welwitschia mirabilis was like alpine plants on high mountain
discovered by Austrian botanist peaks or winter rainfall desert plants.
Friedrich Welwitsch in 1862 in the Many of the geophytes in the winter
Namib Desert of southern Angola, rainfall Succulent Karoo produce
and described by J.D. Hooker in large, broad opposite leaves for the
1863. It was so bizarre that it was short cool winter rainfall season.
placed not only in a new genus but They make use of the weak winter
in a family of its own, the sun, exposing their 'sun panels' to
Welwitschiaceae, Hooker describing absorb the available energy, and
it as 'arrested in juvenility'. these leaves are soon shed for the
Welwitschia actually belongs to the long, dry, hot summer. The dwarf
gymnosperms, a group of cone- mesembs from the same region have
bearing plants that dominated the a compact alpine growth, rapid)y
earth during the Jurassic period absorbing energy from the winter
about 140 million years ago. An sun, but shutting down and hiding
adult Welwitschia mirabilis plant within their shell of dry leaf remains
consists of two leaves, a stem base in summer. Welwitschia has to cope
and roots. That is all! But these two with cool conditions not only in
leaves are unique in the plant winter, but \lIsa during summer
kingdom. They are the original because of the adjacent cool ocean.
seedling leaves and they just It is hardly ever, and then only briefly,
continue to grow, and are never subjected to extremes of cold or heat.
shed. The plant has retained its If the Namib was a hot inland desert,
juvenile state. Simple, but highly Welwitschia would soon succumb to
effective: small wonder that its high temperatures. The large leaves
species name is 'mirabilis'. Its stem also use the available fog, which
is low, woody, hollowed-out, condenses on their surface and runs
'obconical' and stu.rdy. It grows off onto the ground.
about 50 em high, and the two broad The species has essentially decap-
leathery leaves lie on the ground and itated itself by arresting its central
grow continuously. The sexes are two-lobed growth point just after the
separate, the females having larger first leaf pair (the cotyledon stage)
tapering cones and the male smaller forms. Growth can now proceed
oblong cone-like flower structures. horizontally from the original stem
It is still common in its habitat and base where the leaves are produced.
shows variability - a sign that it is The plant is thus arrested in a
far from extinction. Carbon dating of juvenile growth phase for the rest of
plants shows that it lives to a great its life. The only growth that takes
age, some large specimens attaining place is in the leaf primordium
1500 years. surrounding the base of the leaf of a
single node. The green, two-lobed
Coping in a desert growth plug (known as cotyledonary
How would a tree best cope in a buds) gradually withers away after a
sandy desert with a rainfall of less few years, forming an obconical,
than 25 mm per annum, but with v-shaped stem hollowed out in the

176 Veld &' Flora December 2000

 centre: a tree without a head but
with all the sturdiness of a normal
tree. The tree remains short yet
high enough to protect the leaf
primordium from heat exposure.
Energy is only expended in
producing leathery leaves for
trapping the sun's energy. The mild
temperatures and regular fog enable
the plant to remain evergreen.
Broad leaves in a desert plant is
unique but in the case of
Welwitschia it makes sense as the
distribution of the plant coincides
with the fog belt (where fog from the
coast condenses on the broad leaves
providing extra water). With an
average growth of about 15 cm per
annum, in a life span of 1500 years,
Welwitschia could produce a leaf as
long as 225 m: easily the longest
continually growing leaves in the
world! However, the leaves are
naturally torn and weathered as they
grow, and remain at about 1 m in
length. The leaves continue to
broaden as the plant ages, but the
cup-shaped or v-shaped stem base
causes tearing, giving the appearance
of several leaves - rather like the
arms of an octopus.
The design of the leaves thus
provides an effective fog trap and a
thermal energy trap. These peculiar
life forms brought about by the
adjacent cold Atlantic Ocean
(a cool, foggy climate in a
subtropical latitude) are paralleled in
the Galapagos fauna and flora.
Above. Near Springbokwasser in the fog belt of the Namib, a Welwitschia plant hugs the Welwitschia leaves are grazed by
ground, its two continuously growing leaves fragmented into octopus-like tentacles. herbivores, like rhinos, but no insect
Photo: E. van Jaarsveld.
Left. Bending under the weight of their seed, these normally erect seed-bearing female
has ever been recorded eating the
cones will shortly release their seeds. Pollination takes place in midsummer, and seed is leaves. Woolly aphids occasionally
released about 9 months later in spring. Photo: E. vao jaarsveJd. hide under the leaves, sucking sap.
Below. Welwitschia can be described as a stunted, headless, hollowed out tree. Large Cork is a very effective insulator,
specimens make perfect armchairs! Kirstenbosch horticlJlturist Claire Bell relaxes in her and by producing a corky bark from
'Namib arm chair'. Photo: Julie Thomas. a young age, the young plants are
thus protected from overheating in
hot sunny conditions as well as from
fire. This is debatable, but in the
northern part of the welwitschia's
range it grows in an arid savanna
where, in good rainy years, grass
grows rapidly. Grasslands burn and
the cork would be an effective
insulator just as the corky trunk of
the cork oak, Quercus suber, protects
the tree from fire in the
Mediterranean region. Research by
palaeontologist shows that Namibia
had wetter times and thus more
grass, so a low, stunted tree would
benefit from the cork.
In areas of higher rainfall in the
north, Welwitschia is smaller than its
southern relatives living in much
dryer conditions. This could be
because of fire (the old woody bark
of older specimens burns well!) or
competition from other plants.
(Similarly, the leopard tortoise,
Testudo pardalis, attains its largest

Veld &- Flora December 2000 177

 size in the Karoo and other dry
regions where fire is not common.) THE CULTIVATION OF WELWITSCHIA
The largest Welwitschia plants are
found in the Mesum Crater in
MIRABILIS AT KIRSTENBOSCH
Namibia. Namibian botanist,
W. Giess, recorded a plant with a
height of 1.8 m, the largest ever
recorded. Another was recorded with
a stem diameter of 4 m! H. Bornman
also reported an individual from the
Welwitschia Flats with a height of
1.2 m and a stem circumference of
8.7 m.
In cultivation at Kirstenbosch
plants flower from midsummer to
autumn. Male and female parts
develop nectar (50% sugar content
measured). The male flower has a
sterile, modified pistil-like structure,
which exudes nectar from a modified
stigma-like structure. This is clear
indication of insect pollination. The
female cone has exposed stigmas
producing the same nectar droplet.
Cone-bearing plants are often wind
pollinated. The cones produce
pollen in mass, and all at the same
time. The female cones reach
maturity in spring (about 9 months
after fertilization).
Welwitschia has fairly large
winged seeds (3.6 x 2.5 cm,
including wings and 1.2 x 0.6 cm
without wings) dispersed by wind.
Seeds in habitat are often infected
with a fungus Aspegillus niger that
destroys the embryo. It is clearly l"
Welwitschia thrives as a pot plant but it is not a succulent and should be watered
visible as a black dusty powder on regularly. Photo: NBI.
the seed. Seeds infected will not
germinate. Once germination from
irstenbosch receives numer~us Do not disturb the seedlings. Seed was
healthy seeds takes place, the young
seedling rapidly produces a taproot K requests for Welwitschia seed, and
in 1985 a Welwitschia seed production
sown by Mr Tommy Sardien (now
retired) and me directly into the beds
and after three months it becomes
house was erected - thanks to John (filled with red sand from a nearby
virtually impossible to transplant it.
Winter, Curator of the gardens from desert in the Western Cape) and kept
(They can be planted in containers 1968 to 1997. The first seed was sown moist. The beds are raised to about a
but must stay in the container with in the sprirtg of 1985 in this small metre from ground level. Welwitschia
the least root disturbance. See culti- (4 x 8 m) building, and one solitary rapidly grows a taproot and if
vation notes below.) Distribution seedling emerged! A year later disturbed, it dies, so it is better to sow
indicates that Welwitschia is Margaret Thomas brought viable seed the seed where the plants will to
dependent on deep groundwater; from the Ugap River in the Namib remain for the long term. Sow during
hence its occurrence in dry riverbeds Desert in Namibia, and these were spring and keep well watered.
and watercourses, for which it needs sown in September 1986. They Provide moisture, nourishment and
a deep taproot. It also has many germinated very well and today the initial protection. Germination was
lateral roots just below the surface house is filled with a dense colony of rapid (from seven days) and the plants
for taking advantage of surface 81 Welwitschia plants in an area of 15 m'. grew fast producing about 15 cm leaf
moisture. growth per annum. Welwitschia is not
What does a highly reduced plant THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS very resistant to fungal infections at
bearing such specific adaptation Love your plants! Horticulturists the seedling stage, coming as it does
speak of? F'or me, it can only require patience, persistence and from an arid environment. We treated
corroborate the great age of the devotion to their plants. Do not give seeds with Apron C, a systemic fungi-
up after the first failure, learn from cide, for the first six months. By that
Namib predicted by botanists and
your mistakes and persist. My staff and time the plant is sufficiently 'hardened-
palaeontologists. The Welwitschia is
I have had the privilege of caring for off' and the infection rate drops.
truly a relic from the past. As you During summer months we water
and getting to know these plants from
can imagine, this remarkable plant is the first seeds that were sown in 1985 thoroughly about every two to three
in great demand by botanical gardens until today. weeks, and less so during winter.
and keen horticulturists and Provide warmth, sufficient light and Welwitschia is a woody plant and not a
gardeners all over the world. air movement. Kirstenbosch is cooler succulent and will not survive if the soil
Kirstenbosch has been working to than the Namib, so we installed a is allowed to completely dry out. Most
produce Welwitschia seed from heating cable to keep temperatures people kill their Welwitschia plants by
cultivated plants to cope with this above 20 "c. Welwitschia will grow in providing too little water! At Kirsten-
demand, and recently, we have cooler conditions but growth and thus bosch plants are also fed once every
achieved our goal. seed production will be lower. summer using a mild solution of Seagrow.

178 Veld &- Flora December 2000

 First fruits
The first male plant flowered two and
a half years after sowing and the first
female only after five years. (The cost
of seed-production in a desert
environment is high and less energy
is expended in producing the smaller
male flowers than the female ones.)
Although a few females flowered
regularly at first, it was only after
fourteen years of growth that female
cones produced enough seed to fulfil
our dream of providing seed from a
cultivated source to other botanical
gardens. The five sexually active
females produced enough seed to fill
a container 15 x 15 cm, about forty
seeds on average per cone. Plants now
bear about eight cones per plant
(about 480 seeds per plant!).
Pollination is done by hand in
midsummer and in autumn, and is a
very simple procedure. The yellow
pollen, clearly visible on the male
cones, is transferred by finger tip from
the male stamens to the exposed
stigmas on the female cones.
(The stigmas are hair-like growths
emerging between the scales of the
female cone and are clearly visible.)
A seedling sown in September
1985 from Swakopmund grew rapidly
and by September 1986 leaves
reached a length of 22.5 cm, a width
of 3 cm at the broadest point and a
stem diameter of 2 cm. The same
plant was measured during April
1990 had produced leaves of
125.5 cm long, and 10 cm wide. It
was measured again in May 1999 and
the leaves were 300 cm in length,
30 cm at its widest point and the stem
diameter was 16 cm (9 cm high): an
average rate of a little more than 20 cm Top. Inside the
Welwitschia seed
leaf length per annum. (The rate is production house at
15 cm per annum in the Namib.) Kirstenbosch, our
Seedlings from Koigab sown in spring eighty-one
in 1986 had grown to a leaf height of Welwitschia plants
2-3 cm in three weeks after germi- prpduce enough seed
nation (with a taproot of 5-7 cm). for distribution to
By February 1987, five months after other botanical
sowing, the average leaf length was gardens.
8-9 cm long (0.6-1.1 cm broad) and Above. The same
the diameter of the stem 0.4-0.6 cm. house in 1987 the
In May 1999 the average leaf length of plants still small.
Right, above.
the Koigab plants were between
Seed produced
160-280 cm with a stem diameter during 1999.
of between 7-17 cm and leaf width of Right below.
between 12-28 cm. Welwitschia meets
Welwitschia is best cultivated in Rasta! Andrew
open beds or, if your climate permits, Jenkins of
out of doors. They have successfully Kirstenbosch
been grown outside in the Karoo inspecting the plants
National Botanical Gardens in in the Welwitschia
Worcester - which is subject to winter seed production
rain and light frost. Grow them in house.
Photos: E. van laarsveld.
containers with a deep base (at least
30 em) to provide space for their
roots. Clay pots are best. Ensure that
the container has sufficient drainage Acknowledgements Van Jaarsveld, E. J. 1990. The cultivation
The former curators and supporting and care of Welwitschia mirabiJis, the
holes in the base. Use sandy, gravely managers and succulent team that made extraordinary caudicform from the
soil, low in organic material; they this project a success. Paul Ems for helping Namib Desert. Aloe 27, 3.
thrive in a succulent plant mixture, to measure the plants. Van Jaarsveld, E. J. 1992. Welwitschia
and don't mind whether it is slightly mirabilis in cultivation at Kirstenbosch.
acid or alkaline. Sow the seed directly Further reading Veld &- Flora 78 (4), 118-120. (Note that
into the container, just covering it Bornman, C. 1977. Welwitschia, paradox the captions are incorrect: the male plant
with gravel or sand, and keep moist. ® of a parched paradise. Struik. is shown on p.119, the female on p. 120).

Veld &' Flora December 2000 179