Giant cacti that can store 5,000 litres of rainwater; 12,000-year-old creosote bushes that grow less than an inch in four decades; a tobacco plant that summons predators to protect itself from hungry caterpillars; meat-mimicking starfish flowers that sucker flies into pollinating them. We were treated to the full panoply of the weird and the wonderful in the latest episode of The Green Planet, presented with his usual aplomb by Fauna & Flora International (FFI) vice-president Sir David Attenborough.
But one desert denizen was notable by its absence. I’m talking about the otherworldly welwitschia. Found only in the Namib Desert, this bizarre plant surely merits an honourable mention.
AWESOME LEAVES
Welwitschia produces just two strap-like, leathery leaves, which become twisted and frayed during a lifespan that may exceed 1,500 years. Buffeted by desert winds, these leaves usually end up in a tangled heap, but are actually up to 20 metres long. A distant cousin of conifers and cycads, the plant survives by collecting morning dew, which it channels underground and stores in its massive tap root.
Our Green Planet – Five amazing plants you may never have heard of
But one desert denizen was notable by its absence. I’m talking about the otherworldly welwitschia. Found only in the Namib Desert, this bizarre plant surely merits an honourable mention.
AWESOME LEAVES
Welwitschia produces just two strap-like, leathery leaves, which become twisted and frayed during a lifespan that may exceed 1,500 years. Buffeted by desert winds, these leaves usually end up in a tangled heap, but are actually up to 20 metres long. A distant cousin of conifers and cycads, the plant survives by collecting morning dew, which it channels underground and stores in its massive tap root.
Our Green Planet – Five amazing plants you may never have heard of