The remarkable plant Welwitschia mirabilis can live for more than 1,000 years. Why not grow one at home?

If you had to imagine a plant, what would instantly spring to mind? A shrub full of leaves with flowers blooming, or a tree with a trunk and a series of interconnecting leaves and branches? Here’s an alternative: a natural wonder of the botanical world that goes beyond your expectation.

Welwitschia mirabilis is the only living genus (with only one species) of the family Welwitschiaceae. Endemic to the Namib desert within Namibia and Angola, it was discovered by the Austrian botanist and doctor Friedrich Welwitsch in 1859, and features on Namibia’s coat of arms. The Angolans calls the plant m’tumbo (stump) and in Afrikaans it’s known as twee-blaar-kanniedood (two-leaf-can’t-die).

It’s estimated that this “miracle” plant’s average age is in the hundreds of years, and some can even live for 2,000 years; as a result, the plant is sometimes referred to as a living fossil. It is protected by Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Washington Convention). 

Despite its remarkable longevity, Welwitschia is not a rare plant, and forms of a large part of the diets of antelopes, zebras and rhinos, which consume it in large quantities. 

Welwitschia is dioecious. The stem is short and the plant only grows two leaves in its whole lifetime. The stomata on the leaves are designed to absorb water in the atmosphere, and roots can grow from three up to ten metres – extensive enough to source underground water. They have a strong taproot, which once damaged, causes the plant to die easily. The root, however, is very long, which makes artificial cultivation difficult.

If you really want a horticultural challenge of the more miraculous kind, challenge yourself to cultivate a Welwitschia. Although not easy to find, you can buy seeds from specialists; the problem then becomes growing them with such a root system. On which point, two tips: check you’ve got an appropriate climate and never change the pot. Good luck!

Images: Instagram: @ambienvert (Welwitschia in pots); Flickr: Ragnhild&Neil Crawford/Creative Commons (Welwitschia mirablis-1500; image cropped)

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