GNETALES— WELWITSCHIA 385 



latitude 15° 50' S. in August, i860, and sent material to Sir Joseph 

 Hooker,^ ^^ with the suggestion that it be called Tumhoa mirahilis; 

 but Dr. Hooker, in his classical account, named it Welwitschia, in 

 honor of the discoverer ; and practically all of the important litera- 

 ture has treated it under that name, in spite of international con- 

 gresses. At Dr. Hooker's request, the Brussels congress, in 1910, 

 placed Welwitschia on the list of nomina conservanda, thus making 

 the official name the same as that in the most important literature. 



A couple of years ago a newspaper report, in typical newspaper 

 reporter style, claimed that a new field of Welwitschia, some 2,500 

 acres in extent, had been discovered in the Kaokoveld, a vast tract 

 of jungle along the northern frontier of Southwest Africa. Pear- 

 SON^^^ mentions the Kaokoveld, not as a jungle, but as a desert lit- 

 toral, extending some 300 miles south of Choricas, with Welwitschia 

 in particularly large numbers. He says that the region is little 

 known, and is exceptionally difficult for travelers, and that it is 

 likely to contain still unreported Welwitschia localities. 



On the coast of Damaraland, a few miles northeast of Cape Cross, 

 another patch is reported, and is said to be reproducing abundantly 

 from seed. Still another locality is reported, about 100 miles east of 

 Cape Cross, exceptionally far inland. 



While the genus extends over a considerable range, north and 

 south, it occurs in scattered patches hard to reach. It is an extreme 

 xerophyte, growing on rocky plains or on beds of streams, which are 

 nearly always dry. In most of its habitats the rainfall does not ex- 

 ceed I inch a year; and near Walvis Bay, the best-known locaHty, 

 the average rainfall for ten years was only about one-third of an inch. 

 However, there are heavy dews. 



Any botanist, contemplating a trip to Welwitschia localities, had 

 better find out in advance how long it will take and how much it 

 will cost. 



THE SPOROPHYTE — VEGETATIVE 



The plant has the shape of a turnip, or of an inverted cone, rarely 

 more than 45 cm. above ground, and frequently almost covered. 

 Pearson""^ found plants with only a piece of the rim, with one leaf, 

 above ground. The stem is elliptical, in top view, and the largest 



