Pinecrest Gardens Blog: Do You Know This Spooky Suspect?

Press release from Pinecrest Gardens Blog:

October 08, 2021

 Guess what?! Halloween is my favorite holiday!

So, alongside the many, many Halloween events we have going on a Pinecrest Gardens (find them, here), I'm also celebrating with you by exploring the scary, weird and zombie-like plants of the world. Throughout the month, I'll be delving into a few spooky suspects. So, first things first: The Weird and Wonderful Welwitschia! 

Todays ghoul: WELWITSCHIA  (cue halloween paino music). 

Welwitschia meets the spooky agenda by obtaining the following qualities:

Welwitschia meets the spooky agenda by obtaining the following qualities:

A fine candidate for the most world’s most biologically unique plant, Welwitschia mirabilis is the sole member of the family Welwitschiaceae. This strange cone-bearing plant was first brought to the attention of science by the plant explorer for whom it was named.

From evidence in the fossil record, the ancestors of Welwitschia diverged from other conifers at least 114 million years ago.

Male and female plants bear cones  on short branches; the winged seeds need a bit of surface soil moisture to germinate. Consequently, the reproductive success rate is low. Outlandish claims are often made concerning Welwitschia’s longevity. More accurately, by measuring the growth rates of their leaves, it’s estimated that individual plants can live 500 to 1000 years.

 Welwitschia Seedlings grow two tough strap-like leaves that elongate throughout the plants’ lives. Desert winds twist and shred the long, tough leaves. After many decades the tangled, unkempt mature plants resemble dirty piles of rubbish.

This press release was produced by Pinecrest Gardens Blog. The views expressed here are the author’s own.