Welwitschia mirabilis

E88751

Welwitschia mirabilis is a unique, long-lived desert plant native to southwestern Africa, known for its two continuously growing leaves and remarkable adaptation to extremely arid conditions.

All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
Welwitschia 4
Welwitschia mirabilis canonical 4
welwitschia mirabilis 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf desert plant
gymnosperm
plant species
adaptation slow growth rate
sunken stomata
thick cuticle on leaves
tolerance to extreme aridity
binomialName Welwitschia mirabilis
conservationStatus Near Threatened
describedBy Friedrich Welwitsch
Joseph Dalton Hooker
discoveredIn 1859
division Gnetophyta
ecologicalRole desert keystone plant
endemicTo fog-influenced coastal deserts of southwestern Africa
family Welwitschiaceae
genus Welwitschia
growthForm low-growing shrub-like plant
habitat gravel plains
hyper-arid desert
kingdom Plantae
leafCharacteristic continuously growing leaves
evergreen leaves
strap-shaped leaves
leafNumber two
lifespan hundreds of years
over 1000 years
namedAfter Friedrich Welwitsch
nativeTo Angola
Namib Desert
Namibia
notableFeature extreme longevity
highly unusual morphology among plants
only two leaves produced in a lifetime
order Gnetales
linked to: Gnetophyta
photosynthesisType C3 photosynthesis
photosyntheticOrgan leaves
pollination insect-pollinated
wind-pollinated
protectedIn Namib-Naukluft National Park
reproduction dioecious
separate male and female plants
reproductiveStructure cones
rootSystem deep taproot
seedDispersal wind dispersal
stemCharacteristic short woody trunk-like stem
taxonRank species
waterSource fog condensation
groundwater

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Namib Desert hasEndemicSpecies Welwitschia mirabilis
Gnetophyta containsGenus Welwitschia
linked to: Welwitschia mirabilis
Welwitschia mirabilis genus Welwitschia
linked to: Welwitschia mirabilis
Welwitschia mirabilis binomialName Welwitschia mirabilis
Namib-Naukluft National Park flora welwitschia mirabilis
linked to: Welwitschia mirabilis
Welwitschiaceae typeGenus Welwitschia
linked to: Welwitschia mirabilis
Welwitschiaceae containsTaxon Welwitschia mirabilis
Welwitschiaceae containsTaxon Welwitschia
linked to: Welwitschia mirabilis
Friedrich Welwitsch discovered Welwitschia mirabilis