Welwitschia mirabilis

The plant is the sole member of its order and is distantly related to pines and larches. It is composed of two cotyledons from which the two leaves grow continuously at right angles. They reach up to 4 metres in length and become split, frayed and shredded, simulating multiple leaves. They have separate male and female plants and rely on insects, especially Odontopus sexpunctatus (qv) for fertilisation. The plants are very long-lived, some samples thought to be between 1000 and 2000 years of age.

Plant showing the two shredded leaves, one to left and one to right