Welwitschia mirabilis

E88751

desert plant gymnosperm plant species

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.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Welwitschia	4
Welwitschia mirabilis canonical	4
welwitschia mirabilis	1

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 self-link ⓘ
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 mirabilis self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: 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	Gnetophyta ⓘ surface form: Gnetales
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 ⓘ

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 mirabilis ⓘ

this entity surface form: Welwitschia

Welwitschia mirabilis → genus → Welwitschia mirabilis self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Welwitschia

Welwitschia mirabilis → binomialName → Welwitschia mirabilis self-link ⓘ

Namib-Naukluft National Park → flora → Welwitschia mirabilis ⓘ

this entity surface form: welwitschia mirabilis

Welwitschiaceae → typeGenus → Welwitschia mirabilis ⓘ

this entity surface form: Welwitschia

Welwitschiaceae → containsTaxon → Welwitschia mirabilis ⓘ

this entity surface form: Welwitschia

Friedrich Welwitsch → discovered → Welwitschia mirabilis ⓘ