Features of growing amazing velvichia
Velvichia is amazing - a relict gymnosperm desert plant. The only kind of order is the Welwitsch class of oppression. Found only in Africa, southeast Angola and Namibia. This species is protected by law. It is forbidden to collect and distribute the seeds of the plant without special permission. A known specimen is 1.5 m high and 4 m in diameter. Its age is 1500 years. The plant is cultivated, suitable for growing in open ground and as an indoor flower.
Amazing Velvichia: description
Velvichia is unlike other representatives of the flora. From a low columnar stem, brown-green leaves grow in two directions, to the touch similar to wooden planks... To create shade, the plant divides large leaves into 10 or more small strips. The rosette is located in the middle, rising above the ground by 30-50 cm. The roots are relatively small - 2-3 m.
Source: Depositphotos
Velvichia amazing has only two leaves growing in different directions.
The plant lives in excessively dry and desert places. In Namibia, it is distributed over an area within 100 km of the ocean. The process of life and growth has a number of distinctive features:
- Velvichia grows where fogs always form; of these, the plant absorbs water through a thousand pores located on both sides of the leaf;
- seeds absorb moisture from the air and transfer them to the fruit;
- the second pair of leaves does not fully develop, forms a protection for the top of the shoot.
The plant has male and female flowers that look like small bumps. Pollination takes place with the help of the wind.
Velvichia: features of cultivation
Cultivating a plant requires perseverance and patience. The tree is sensitive to weather changes.
From the photo of velvichia, it is clear that the plant is used for decorative purposes. Gardeners choose it for the original appearance and exoticism. Planting and grooming have the following features:
- before planting, the seeds are treated with a fungicide agent;
- instead of soil, a mixture of volcanic rock and sand in arbitrary proportions;
- seeds are placed on the surface and lightly sprinkled with sand;
- the container with the plant is placed in a warm, bright place; the temperature is maintained within +27 ... + 38 ° C;
- with the help of the film, greenhouse conditions are created.
Velvichia is amazing at home and requires constant care and monitoring. In spring and summer, the tree is taken out onto a balcony or terrace. It is best to avoid direct sunlight. The plant will be interesting for exotic lovers.
The vast majority of desert plants are characterized by small size, lack of leaves and, mainly, involvement in the succulent family. But as you know, there is an exception to each rule. This is an exception.
Velvichia It is completely different from the usual desert plants, moreover, it is not like any other plant in the world. Amazing Velvichia has only 2 leaves that grow in opposite directions from a rosette raised above the ground by 30 - 50 cm. The lack of leaves is more than compensated for by their size: up to 8 meters in length and up to 2 meters in width. It grows two leaves of Velvichia all its life, their number never increases.
In the photographs, it is easy to notice that the plant has clearly more than two leaves, but this is just a cunning adaptation of Velvichia. Trying to shade as much of the ground around the roots as possible, the plant begins to bile (separate) the leaves into narrow ribbon-like pieces up to 1.5 meters long. Over time, the tapes dry out and die off, but at the same time they fully cope with the task assigned to them - they create a shadow and do not waste precious moisture.
in fact, the plant has only two leaves, divided into ribbon-like pieces
Velvichia grows amazing in the western part of the desert Namib in Angola and Namibia. Namib is one of the harshest deserts in the world, rainfall here will fall no more than 15 mm per year, with all 15 mm falling in 2 months, the remaining 10 months of the year in the coastal part of Namib is dry as hell. How, then, manages to squeeze out a plant with such large leaves how is velvichia? How and where does she get the water necessary for life? The discoverer of this plant is a botanist Friedrich Welwich suggested that it takes water from underground groundwater... But as it turned out later, the groundwater is so deep here that only camel thorns, the roots of which go down 40 meters. Velvichia has relatively short roots - 2-3 meters, no more. The secret of the Velvichia was found in its special leaves. The entire surface of leaves as hard as a tree is densely dotted with stomata, capable of incredibly efficiently collecting moisture from incoming Atlantic Ocean morning and evening fogs... The amount of moisture collected from fogs is equivalent to 50 mm of rain falling every day. This ability was investigated only in the middle of the 20th century, before that no one could have imagined that such tough, almost wooden leaves were capable of something similar.
Velvichia is amazing - it's real dinosaur plant, it appeared on Earth long before the appearance of man and even before mammals. In addition, it still boasts a very long life - about 1200-1300 years, and the oldest individual recently turned 1500 years old.
The largest known specimen of Velvichia is 1.4 m high and more than 4 m in diameter, more than 1500 years old
A common misconception is that Welwitschia is often mistaken for herbaceous plant, in reality it is a tree. The trunk, although not high - up to 80 cm in height, about half of which are underground, but can reach 120 cm in diameter. It is covered with a strong and dense bark 2 cm thick. The rosette and, accordingly, the top of the trunk can be wider than 1.5 meters in diameter.
This is such a unique plant this velvichia... Thanks to its incredible thirst for life, it has found a way to survive in one of the harshest places on our planet. It is unlike any other plant. It is truly amazing in every way.
Botanical name: Welwitschia.
Family... Velvichy.
Where does Velvichia grow... Velvichia grows naturally in Angola and Namibia, in Africa, in the desert.
Description of what it looks like. Velvichia is a dioecious perennial amazing gymnospermous plant with a short stem, taproot and two leaves. The leaves are leathery, wide, belt-like, 2 meters long, lie on the ground, grow continuously throughout the life of the plant and wear out with age and acquire an unkempt appearance. The stem is low, inversely conical, thick, woody, unbranched. Divided into male and female plants... Reproductive ramified organs appear at the base of the leaves, in female plants - blue-green cones, larger than male ones. Male cones are salmon-colored, small, oblong-conical. It grows very slowly.
Height... The Velvichia plant grows up to 50 cm.
Velvichia - home care
Temperature conditions ... The usual one will do. room temperature during a year. In extreme heat, plant leaves curl up and thereby reduce the evaporation of moisture from the surface.
Lighting... A brightly lit place. Plants are very sensitive to sudden changes in light intensity. Never move the plant out of the shade into direct sun - the leaves will burn and the plant may never recover and die. Care... Welwitschias are fairly easy to grow as potted plants. Substrate... Loose, well-drained, with a high content of coarse sand. Top dressing... Velvichia is responsive to feeding - it grows faster. During the growing season, they are fed every 2 - 3 months. Appointment. Flowering time... From mid-summer to autumn. Air humidity... Sprayed in the warm season. Soil moisture... This plant should be watered regularly during the summer months, reduce watering to 1 time per month in winter. Transfer... The plant has a very sensitive root system and does not like to be anxious, so transplant Velvichia only when necessary. Reproduction... Seeds are sown in the warm season, in spring or summer, in a large and deep (at least 30 cm, preferably larger) pot. Remember to place a layer of gravel at the bottom to ensure good drainage... The soil should be sandy and well-drained, for example 2 parts sand: 1 part loam: 1 part compost (leaf humus) with enough bone meal... Moisten the soil thoroughly before sowing seeds. Keep seedlings in a warm and sunny place, maintain uniform humidity.
Welwitschia mirabilis
This name was given to her by the English botanist Joseph Hooker: generic - in honor of Friedrich Welwich, the Austrian traveler and botanist, who discovered this plant in the south of Angola in 1860, and the specific name - apparently, in memory of the feelings that this plant evoked, because everything is unusual.
The trunk of a Velvichia is like a stump or stump, low and thick, almost completely hidden in the ground. Aboveground part it rarely exceeds half a meter in height. Downward, the trunk tapers conically and smoothly turns into a taproot up to 3 meters long. In the upper part, the trunk is more or less saddle-bilobate, covered with a dense layer of cork up to 2 cm thick.
In an adult state, Velvichia has two (and only two!) Leaves, which is its unique feature... At the same time, the leaves are able to grow indefinitely at a rate of 8-15 cm per year and reach a length of up to 3 meters. But this is usually the case. In the literature, simply gigantic specimens with leaves up to 6 meters and a width of 1.8 meters are described!
Velvichia leaf can be roughly divided into three parts. At its base, the processes of cell division and the actual increase in length take place, the middle part is responsible for photosynthesis, and the ends of the leaves gradually die off, dry up and break into thin strips, creating a feeling of untidy shaggy. The leaves are very tough to the touch and look more like planks than living plant organs. Their color is brownish green. In internal structure there are mucus passages, like Cycadaceae, a very ancient group of gymnosperms. And the stomata are exactly like those of Bennettitaceae, not only an even more ancient, but also completely extinct group of plants. These facts clearly indicate that the origins of the Velvichia should be sought in the depths of the centuries.
The described pair of leaves appears immediately behind the cotyledons, which subsequently fall off. And then the development of the plant stops! The trunk grows only in breadth, and the leaves grow in length. Therefore, Velvichia may well be called an "adult teenager."
Close-up of the top of a female plant with inflorescences, the structure remains at the same age. But the life span of our heroine is extremely long!
Velvichia grows in the barren deserts of Angola and the southwestern tropical Africa, in the rocky Namib Desert, which stretches along the Atlantic coast. It almost never occurs further than a hundred kilometers from the coast, and this is due to its unique specifics. The fact is that the Namib Desert is extremely arid and sultry. For months, not a drop of rain falls here, and at the same time, Velvichia calmly grows on open places and he feels pretty good there. Where does she get the moisture she needs?
Previously, it was believed that its rather long root can reach groundwater, but later it turned out that this is not the case. Almost the only source of moisture in this desert is dense fog, which envelops the coast in the morning for 300 days a year, and oceanic breezes drive its life-giving drops far inland. The fog condenses on the huge leaves of the Velvichia and water is absorbed through the stomata. Therefore, it is not surprising that Velvichia leaves possess exclusively a large number stomata - 22000 stomata per 1 cm 2!
Velvichia is sometimes grown in greenhouses, however, not because of its decorative qualities, but due to absolute exclusivity. By the way, her cultivation requires a lot of skill and patience on the part of gardeners, since she, like many extraordinary personalities, is rather capricious and sensitive to even minor changes in the regime.
In its homeland, Velvichia is especially protected and enjoys a well-deserved honor. She was even honored to be placed on the coat of arms of Namibia, as a symbol of national fortitude. And the Bushmen tribes call her "oji tumbo", which means "big lord". And, it should be noted - quite rightly!
This amazing plant can be found in Namibia and Angola, which are located on mainland Africa. It grows in the Namib Desert along the coastline, extending no more than 100 km into the desert. The full name of the species of this plant is Velvichia Amazing. According to the scientific classification, it was classified as a tree, but in fact such a plant is very unique and is the only representative of its family and genus. There are no plants similar to Welwichia on our planet.
Scientific classification:
View: Amazing Velvichia
Family: Velvichievye
Genus: Velvichia
Class: oppressive
Department: Oppressive
Order: Velvicia
Kingdom: Plants
Domain: Eukaryotes
The main source of moisture for Velvichia is the fog that covers the coastline of the desert. There is very little precipitation in the desert. Occasionally, individual plants can be found near temporary streams within the desert itself. At first glance at the plant, it may seem that it has many leaves, but in fact there are only two of them and they grow throughout its life. Over time, they can tear into narrow belts and create the deceptive effect that there are a lot of leaves on the plant. Local tribes call this plant "oji tumbo", which translates as "big lord".
Leaves can grow up to 8-15 cm a year. They reach 2-4 meters in length, and the longest ones are found up to 8 meters. Leaves can be up to 2 meters wide. At the ends, the leaves begin to die off and curl. And if you touch the leaves by touch, then they resemble boards. Throughout the life of the plant, new leaves of Velvichia do not grow surprisingly.
The root is very thick, goes into the ground for 1.5 - 3 meters and has two tiers of lateral roots. The first is at a level of about 10 cm under the soil, and the second is at a level of about 1 meter.
The trunk of the plant is mostly underground. The trunk diameter can be up to 1 meter. It is woody, hollow, cone-like. It rises only 15-50 cm above the ground.
Since the main source of moisture for Velvichia is fog, its leaves have a very large number of stomata - about 22,000 per square centimeter, through which the plant absorbs moisture. Amazing Velvichia grows in one plant, a group of plants does not occur.
The plant is dioecious, that is, it is divided into female and male plants. The flowers are bump-like, with the female buds being larger than the male ones. Pollination takes place with the help of the wind. Also, thanks to the wind, Velvichia seeds are spread across the desert.
Welvichia's life span is quite long. Thanks to the research carried out, plants were discovered that are more than 2,000 years old.
Velvichia video:
Today, the amazing Velvichia grows not only in the Namibian desert, but it is also cultivated in greenhouses and even used as indoor plant... Velvichia is a very capricious plant at home, but because of its uniqueness it is in demand.
If you liked this material, share it with your friends in in social networks... Thanks!