Don't even ask me where I picked this one up, for I don't recall. This week it went into the reading basket, as I always want at least four of the twelve to be non-fiction. I read the introduction this morning and know I will love this book.
The new thing I learned was on the first page. Welwitschia mirabilis, a plant found in the Namib Desert, never grows more than its first two seedling leaves, leaves which grow to an immense length and which can live for thousands of years. How amazing is that?
Welwitschia is named after an Austrian botanist, Friedrich Welwitsch, who was the first to describe the plant in 1859. The 'mirabilis' means marvellous, amazing. Latin may not be spoken much today but, thanks to Linnaeus, all plant people have a bit of it, even me.
Some folk think that Welwitschia is an ugly plant and yet some people still want to grow it for themselves. I checked eBay for availability and a company is selling 10 seeds for £47.99. I'm not going to bother though as the company is in China and I couldn't be certain that I wouldn't end up with some other plant. Also, I don't even have a heated conservatory. Coming from a desert I'm sure the plants wouldn't appreciate the climate in Cullybackey.
Still, I would like to see Welwitschia in real life. Preferably without visiting Namibia or Angola. Nothing against those countries except they're a bit far away. I must have missed it when I visited Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam for, according to Flickr, it was there in 2012. Unless it perished before I got there.
This illustration would suggest that Welwitschia has more than two leaves but over the decades the desert winds shred them so that there appear to be many more. Then, over the centuries the ends of the leaves disintegrate and blow away. Truly amazing. Another thing. They can be eaten*. I wouldn't.
*Indigenous people eat the cone of this plant by eating it raw or baking it in hot ashes. One of its names, onyanga, translates to 'onion of the desert'. (Wikipedia)
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