Bulldozer - Apr 22nd, 2015
Once, while traveling in southwestern Africa, an Austrian traveler, naturalist Friedrich Velvich stumbled upon a rather strange plant, which from a distance he mistook for a pile of garbage. Coming closer, the scientist found in an unfamiliar plant a kind of stump with a diameter of about a meter, from which long leaves departed. At first it seemed to the traveler that there were a lot of leaves, but after looking closely, he found only two leaves, torn into long strips by the wind. Later English botanist Joseph Hooker called it amazing plant velvichia in honor of its discoverer.
It should be noted that the amazing velvichia is the only representative of a single species that lives only in the African Namib Desert on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The velvichia root can reach up to 3 meters, but it does not absorb water as much as other plants, but it plays the role of an anchor, holding the plant in the desert sands. Two leaves extend from a short woody stem, reaching a length of 6 m, and plants growing throughout their lives, adding 8-15 cm each year. moisture. It is interesting that the fresh wood of the velvichia stem sinks in water, and the dry wood burns without smoke.
Bushmen call velvichia "otzhi tumbo" - a big master. AT harsh conditions African desert, not every plant can survive, and velvichia not only survives, but is also considered a long-liver. Its age can reach up to 2000 years. Velvichia is a relict dwarf tree that has survived many eras. It existed already when dinosaurs roamed our planet.
Such a life expectancy and adaptability of the plant to the arid conditions of the desert put Velvichia in a number of extraordinary plants that require protection. In Namibia, the plant is strictly protected, forbidding the collection of Welwitschia seeds without special permission. Velvichia is considered national symbol Namibia and its image flaunts on the coat of arms of this country.
Excerpts from Igor Akimushkin's book "Whims of Nature"
A striking plant was discovered in 1860 by the German botanist Friedrich Velwich in the desert of southern Angola. This is a tree, but it would not be visible above the ground, if not for the huge width of the trunk - up to 4 meters - and prohibitively long leaves - up to 3-4 meters. Like brown-green belts (to the touch they look like boards!), They spread in waves along the ground. The trunk supporting them rises only 15–50 centimeters above the level of stony soil, but goes into the depths with a cone, gradually turning into a root, by 5 meters - up to ground water. The fabrics that make up the trunk are not wood, but a "dark brown substance". It has no annual rings. It is resinous, and sinks in water, as it is very dense.
Velvichia leaves never fall - years, centuries, millennia grow and grow. Age of one velvichia by the method of radioactive carbon it is established precisely: two thousand years! During this colossal period, she did not change a single sheet, but only two of them. Winds and sandstorms cut them lengthwise into many stripes, and it seems: there are a considerable number of leaves. But studies of botanists have proven: only a couple of leaves in Welwitschia.
At the time of flowering, flowers bloom in the axils of the leaves, bordering the extended and clumsy trunk with a wreath. Flowers are then formed raspberry cones spruce-like. Velvichia in the singular represents family of velvichia plants.
Velvichia thickets do not grow, and their total number is small. Pollinate velvichia ... bed bugs (chemiptera odontopus) .
This is how this amazing creation of nature appears in the description of some authors, while others have different information: not 5 meters immersed velvichia root into the ground, and a maximum of 1.5 meters, without reaching groundwater. Yes, there is no need for this: already at this depth the soil is damp. The root ends with a panicle of thin roots, and they collect water at a depth; and closer to the surface, small roots also extend from the top of the root. Their mission is to catch water upper layers soil during the rainy season. It is unlikely that these roots are able to absorb the dew and moisture of fogs that are frequent in those places, although this is also assumed.
Velvichia is endemic to the Namib Desert. , that is, it does not grow anywhere else, as in it. And it was here that I found it for the first time. Friedrich Velvich , and not in the Kalahari, as many books say.
Namib the desert is strange. Little rain falls there: 25-50 millimeters of precipitation per year. But the humidity is high, as thick fogs creep in from the ocean. The air temperature is also strangely low for the latitudes where it is located. Namib: in the warmest month - 17-19 degrees, and in the coldest - 12-13 degrees.
S. Yesenina
Namib stretches in a narrow strip along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean from the south of Angola to mouth Rolifants River in Namibia. It is approximately 2,100 kilometers long and only 50-130 kilometers wide. In the south it is gravel, rocky, and in the center it is sandy.
rare plant velvichia taken under the protection of the law unique monument nature.
The amazing arid oceanic deserts of West and South-West Africa are the homeland of the amazing Welwitschia dwarf tree, but its main habitat is the Namib Desert. Velvichia has a low and thick trunk, which is almost completely hidden in the ground, and protrudes only no more than 0.5 meters above ground level, therefore it resembles a stump or stump. Velvichia grows mainly in width, therefore, in the end, it reaches a diameter of 1.2 meters.
The dark brown substance of the trunk is dense and hard, like a sequoia, but without annual rings. It can only be scratched with a nail. The tap root can go five meters deep into the soil. At the top of the trunk there are two leaves 3, sometimes up to 8 meters long and up to 1.8 meters wide. They are born, as expected, small. As they grow, they become wide, thick, leathery and ribbed. Years, centuries pass, and they continue to grow, without changing their greenish-brown color and without falling off. Over time, the desert wind cuts them along, and they become like ribbons. Ragged leaves lying in a heap on the sand give the old tree a resemblance to a pile of garbage. Some specimens of velvichia reach the age of two thousand years.
it unusual tree discovered at the end of the 19th century by the German botanist Friedrich Velwich, having stumbled upon it in the vicinity of Mosamedes in southern Angola, where it hardly rains. The locals assigned the name "otji-tumbo" to the plant, which means "big master". The distribution area of \u200b\u200bvelvichia extends from Angola to the Southern Tropic, and more precisely, to the bend of the Keuseb River in the Namib Desert. At the same time, it begins 50 kilometers from the coast and goes inland for another 80 kilometers - the limit reached by ocean fogs, which give the plant life-giving moisture.
Welwitschia are scattered throughout the desert and never grow in groups. These are pronounced xerophytes, that is, plants of dry habitats, capable of withstanding overheating and dehydration due to a number of adaptive features and properties. For example, there are many stomata on velvichia leaves: more than 20 thousand stomata are placed on one square centimeter on both sides of the leaf. They open during fog, intensively absorbing moisture, and close when it dissipates. All plant organs secrete transparent resin. When flowering, crimson vertical cones are formed on peduncles, which rise 30 centimeters above the edge of the round trunk. The single seed that develops from each flower of the female cone is provided with broad wings. Dry wood of velvichia burns like charcoal, no smoke and much longer than camel thorn. These trees have no practical use.
Velvichia is a monotypic genus of rosette plants from South Africa with a short and wide stem-like stem, two long twisting leaves and modified shoots - strobili resembling cones. The only species that has survived to this day, Velvichia amazing, is used as a greenhouse and houseplant because of its unusual appearance.
Ask the experts
In medicine
Velvichia is not used either in official or in folk medicine.
Contraindications and side effects
Velvichia is a little-studied plant. Its use internally or externally is strictly contraindicated.
In cooking
In ancient times, Velvichia kernels were used for food. The tribes of the Namib desert ate them raw or baked in the ashes and called "onyanga", which means "desert onion".
Currently, Velvichia is not used for food.
In horticulture
Velvichia grows slowly and requires care, so grow it in greenhouses and room conditions not very easy. The plant is extremely sensitive to frost. The soil prefers well-drained soil, the layer of earth must be deep, because. the root of the plant is quite long, about a meter.
Velvichia requires a dry climate, direct Sun rays, the temperature is not lower than 21 degrees. Watering is needed regularly, with the exception of the dormant period of the plant, at which time it is not watered. The first shoots with sporangia, strobili, appear at the age of 3-12 years of Velvichia's life.
The plant propagates by seeds, which are stored for several years. It is not always possible to achieve seed germination, the plant is prone to fungal diseases, the seedlings can rot from a lack of heat or an excess of moisture. Before planting, the seeds are treated with a fungicide, then they are sown on top of a soilless sterile mixture, sprinkled with a little sand. The mixture should be slightly moistened and monitored for its uniformity. Then the seeds are placed in a very warm (27-38 degrees) and bright place. Seeds should germinate for 1-6 months. To prevent putrefactive processes, the seedlings are treated with a fungicide several times. It is believed that the plant is most susceptible to fungus in the first 8 months of its life.
In 1989 in Kirstenbosch, botanical garden not far from Cape Town, built the "House of Velvichia". Scientist Ernst van Yarsveld tried to artificially recreate the plant's natural habitat. The first planted Velvichia bloomed after two years and six months - this was a record, before the process took years. In 2013, the Velvichia House officially opened to visitors.
Classification
The genus Welwitschia (lat. Welwitschia) of the Velvichie family (lat. Welwitschiaceae) includes a single species - amazing Velvichia (lat. Welwitschia mirabilis).
Botanical description
Velvichia is a two-leaved rosette plant with a stem-like wide stem, the main volume of which is the hypocotyl.
The seed of a plant is an embryo surrounded by gametophyte tissue, which contains nutrients necessary for the embryo at an early stage of development. The embryo itself in a dormant seed consists of a long root, a short thickened hypocotyl, and an apical bud, which is closed by two folded cotyledons. From above, the seed is covered with two thin pterygoid outgrowths. Part of the shell is fibrous, which has an extremely high hygroscopicity, which allows the seed to swell even when there is not enough moisture.
During germination, the seed coat remains in the soil. When the cotyledons reach 25-35 mm, the first pair of true leaves is cut through. Cotyledons live for about 18 months, growing up to 4 cm, and then dry out and fall off only after 2-3 years. The first pair of true leaves, on the contrary, grows throughout the life of Velvichia. As for the second pair of true leaves, it is rather poorly developed and represents only primordia, the rudiments of leaves. Then, when the plant develops, they fuse with the top of the shoot and thus protect it.
The stem of Velvichia is hollow, short, protrudes only 15-50 cm above the soil. It is covered with a layer of cork.
The leaves of the plant usually reach a length of 2-4 m, a width of 1 m. Their growth rate is approximately 20-40 cm per year. They are brown-green in color, very hard, parallel venation. The ends of the leaves constantly dry up, split into strips, twist and lie on the ground.
There are a lot of stomata on one leaf of Velvichia on both sides, about 22 thousand per square centimeter. This is due to the fact that the plant receives moisture mainly due to thick fogs that the wind brings from the Atlantic Ocean for almost 10 months. This fog is absorbed by the stomata.
Velvichia is a dioecious plant. Its strobili (cones) are on stalks that emerge from the center of the disk and form branched assemblies. Their color is green at an early stage, and later becomes red or dark crimson. Female cones (megastrobils) have many seeds under the scales. Male cones (microstrobiles) are much smaller in size than female ones.
Velvichia is pollinated by the wind, in the same way seeds are distributed.
The life span of Velvichia is extremely long. The radio-coal method established that the age of some individuals is approximately 2 thousand years.
Spreading
AT wild nature Velvichia grows in Angola, in the southwest of the state and in Namibia - in the Namib Desert. It is mainly distributed on the coastal strip near the coast, a maximum of one hundred kilometers from the coast - this is due to the fact that the fogs, thanks to which Velvichia receives moisture, no longer reach the depths of the mainland. In rare cases, the plant is found in the depths of the desert, in the upper reaches of dry channels and drains, where the amount of precipitation is slightly higher.
Procurement of raw materials
The velvichia plant is not harvested.
Chemical composition
In the extract of the root and stem of Velvichia, the presence of glycosides, stilbenoid, resveratrol, gnetin G.