This supremely ugly plant is around 2000 years old

Posted by on May 31, 2014 Leave a comment (20) Go to comments

This supremely ugly plant is around 2000 years old.

It's called Welwitschia mirabilis.

It is the last remaining plant in its genus, the last in its family, the last in its order.

It comes from a community of plants that thrived more than 200 million years ago. All of them slowly vanished, except for Welwitschia.

Welwitschia was "discovered" in 1859 by an Austrian explorer and botanist — Friedrich Martin Josef Welwitsch — but dinosaurs "discovered" them, too. Welwitschia plants were around when the killer asteroid hit our planet 65 million years ago. They stayed when the ice came. They stayed when the ice went. They have survived fires, pests, seen an endless parade of new insects, viruses, parasites, people, roads, local wars — and somehow, even today, there are thousands of them in the Namibian desert.

More here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2014/05/21/314225165/so-what-if-its-ugly-it-just-keeps-on-going?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140521

Originally posted on Google+ · May 31, 2014

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20 Comments.

  1. Donna Zachare May 31, 2014 at 6:39 pm

    Nice!  In North America we have our own ancient – the Bristlecone Pine!  Some are over 5000 years old, and most locations are kept secret so no-one tries to grab a souvenir  😀   I imagine the energies from these plants must be very powerful indeed!  ♥♥♥

    Reply
  2. Brian Coca May 31, 2014 at 6:42 pm

    looks tired, 2K years can weigh on you ….

    Reply
  4. Jenny Green May 31, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    That plant looks how I feel.

    Reply
  6. jocelyn mondragon May 31, 2014 at 11:14 pm

    ????????

    Reply
  7. Ismail Abdus-Salam Ajibola June 1, 2014 at 1:36 am

    Consist of only two leaves, but which are very long and highly coiled…

    Reply
  8. Runivis Roan June 1, 2014 at 2:01 am

    +Donna Zachare
     Energies?

    Reply
  9. justus rop June 1, 2014 at 3:07 am

    suprised.!!!!!

    Reply
  10. Helio Hollandez June 1, 2014 at 5:24 am

    Thanks you all for the comment, Welwicthia belongs to Angola my Lovely Country…

    Reply
  11. Ntli Dgud June 1, 2014 at 6:17 am

    This seems to be part of a wider research by artist Rachel Sussman  project http://ideas.ted.com/2014/05/29/gallery-the-oldest-living-things-in-the-world/

    Reply
  12. Randall Laue June 1, 2014 at 6:31 am

    What are the chances of taking cuttings to save?

    Reply
  13. Donna Zachare June 1, 2014 at 9:50 am

    +Runivis Roan it's a metaphysical/spiritual/religious thing  ;-D   one of my favorite topics to study

    Reply
  14. Runivis Roan June 1, 2014 at 10:13 am

    +Donna Zachare
     Oh, so in other words you specialize in bs?

    Reply
  15. Runivis Roan June 1, 2014 at 10:13 am

    +Donna Zachare
     Oh, so in other words you specialize in bs?

    Reply
  16. Patrick Smith June 1, 2014 at 10:58 am

    +Randall Laue Fortunately this species is not going extinct and many specimens are in botanic gardens and private collections.

    Reply
  17. Patrick Smith June 1, 2014 at 10:58 am

    +Randall Laue Fortunately this species is not going extinct and many specimens are in botanic gardens and private collections.

    Reply
  18. Donna Zachare June 1, 2014 at 11:24 am

    Welcome to my blocked list +Runivis Roan I am not interested in interacting with you at this time  😀

    Reply
  19. Ricky Daniels June 1, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    is the Ugliness in the object or the perception?

    Reply
  20. Tom Harris June 1, 2014 at 2:03 pm

    Car hire from pontypool

    Reply

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