Welwitschia

The thousand-year desert wonder with two leaves

The welwitschia grows only 2 leaves in its whole life — but those leaves never stop growing, for more than 1,000 years! The wind shreds them so the plant looks like an octopus. It lives in the driest desert in the world and gets water from sea fog. The scientist who first saw it said: 'I was afraid to touch it.'

The welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis) grows only in the Namib Desert (Namibia, Angola); it is the sole member of its order, a distant relative of conifers. It grows just 2 leaves in its life, which grow continuously from the base (10–15 cm a year), reach 4 m and are shredded into strips by the wind. Radiocarbon dating puts the oldest at 1,500–2,000 years. Where rainfall is under 20 mm, it takes water from fog (100 days a year) and from a root 3 m deep. Its genome was sequenced in 2021, revealing drought-adaptation genes. It appears on Namibia's coat of arms. Plants are male or female and are pollinated by insects.

Fun facts

• A welwitschia lives 2,000 years and grows just 2 leaves!
• Its leaves never stop growing — up to 4 metres.
• It appears on Namibia's coat of arms — a national symbol.