A VERY VERY WEIRD SURVIVOR OF THE NAMIB DESERT - THE WELWITSCHIA PLANT OF AFRICA

I f you are looking for a resource that is ready-made with a supporting attachment and inbuilt interest because of its weirdness - then this unit will assist. The Welwitschia plant of the Namibian Desert would have to be one of the strangest native plants. On first observation it appears to be like the mangled strips of a disposed rubber type left on the side of a road. On closer inspection it has elongated green ribbons (leaves) around a central growth area. How does it survive? Well your class will be able to find out. Another very strange fact is that this plant is that this plant can live for several hundred years. However, the plant is endangered - so your students can consider how it might be preserved by using the attachments (Colour and Black and White - for you preference). Display the photographs and maps and enter the environment of the Welwitschia. This unit can be used in Primary and Secondary levels of environmental and geography studies. It fits in with adaptations of plants to arid environments.