Welwitschia - Meet The Endangered
Welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis)
The Welwitschia is undoubtedly one of the oddest-looking plants on Earth. In the extreme deserts of Namibia and Angola, it sprawls prostrate on the sands like a weeping mass of surplus plant material left over from the dawn of creation.
It is indeed one of the longest-living of all plant species, with some individuals dated to nearly 2,000 years old. Uniquely, while most plants grow new leaves either every season or every few years - Welwitschia only grows two leaves over the course of its entire life. Each grows extremely slowly over centuries and coils over the other.
Welwitschia is listed as Near-Threatened locally, as its long reproductive cycle makes it vulnerable to human threats like overgrazing and vehicle strikes. It is better conserved on the Angolan side of the border, where stray landmines leftover from the civil war keep humans away.
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