Living for millennia: the story of the 'Desert Octopus' that amazed Darwin

In the vast desert of Namibia and southern Angola, a plant unique and dazzling goes completely unnoticed, camouflaged among the dunes.

The welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis), even with its cadaverous appearance, is a true phenomenon of nature, defying time and the most adverse conditions.

Imagine a small thick wooden stem, looking like a dwarf tree, measuring only a hand or two in height. Surprisingly, this trunk splits into two parts, and each side grows a single leaf.

Yes, this millennial plant has only two leaves throughout its existence. Such leaves, dry and hard, resemble pieces of greenish leather, making it unattractive to the unsuspecting eye.

history of millennia

This peculiar appearance is the result of a long evolution that allowed some welwitschia to reach an impressive thousand years old, and researchers venture to believe that some may live up to two millennia.

It has been on Earth since the Jurassic period and botanists believe that possible similar species would have disappeared in the last 150 million years.

Charles Darwin referred to it as the “platypus of the plant kingdom,” referring to the semiaquatic mammal that lays eggs, another candidate for natural oddity.

Welwitschia's eccentricity doesn't stop there. Its leaves can stretch an incredible four meters in length! Such an uninterrupted horizontal dimension only finds limits due to the aridity and merciless winds of the desert.

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Perhaps it is the vision of these sheets that stretch out which has earned it the curious nickname of “desert octopus”, suggesting the idea of ​​fluttering tentacles.

However, this is an illusion, because, despite this apparent appearance, the original leaves remain only two.

The survival of welwítschia in such an inhospitable environment is due to the ingenious mechanism adopted by it, shared with other succulent plants.

Unlike most, such a vegetable does not seek water in the soil through its roots. Its roots are deep, but its purpose is to prevent winds from displacing the plant from its place. Water is captured from atmospheric moisture, revealing an impressive adaptation.

When faced with a welwítschia, the first impression is that its frayed bands and bands multiply, resembling the tentacles of an octopus.

However, once again, this is a visual illusion, because, amidst this abundant appearance, its two, and only, original leaves remain unaltered.

The remarkable plant has a history as old as the Earth itself. It witnessed the Jurassic era and has remained intact for millions of years, defying drastic changes in climate and environment.

Botanists speculate that other possible similar plants may have disappeared in the last 150 million years, but the welwítschia persists, firm and majestic.

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