426 On the Welwitschia Mirabilis. 



account for the difference in the descriptions given by Dr. 

 Welwitsch and Mr. Monteiro, the former saying that the 

 stem is but partially buried in the ground, while the latter 

 describes it as being buried up to the point of attachment of 

 the leaves. Specimens presented by both these gentlemen are 

 in the Museum at Kew, and their appearance fully bears out 

 both these descriptions. 



The most peculiar part of this extraordinary plant is its 

 crown, into the edges of which at the point of junction with 

 the stock the leaves are inserted. In outline it is of an irre- 

 gular oval or oblong form. The surface of this crown, and 

 indeed the whole external part of the plant, is of a dirty brown 

 colour, hard, rugged, and cracked, and has been aptly likened 

 by Dr. Hooker to the crust of an overbaked loaf. This part, 

 which is exposed more than any other to the direct rays of a 

 tropical sun, is of course much the hardest, driest, and darkest. 

 It is seldom or never perfectly flat, but is usually sunken to- 

 wards the centre, or concave. When young, it is at first 

 somewhat swollen here, but as the plant increases in age, it 

 gradually sinks or contracts. From the edges or point of 

 insertion of the leaves towards the centre, the surface is covered 

 with little circular pits, arranged more or less in concentric 

 ridges. These pits are the marks or scars of fallen flower- 

 stalks. Dr. Hooker looks upon these concentric ridges as very 

 possibly representing the annual growth of the plant. This 

 theory, most probably, is correct, for we find that as the plant 

 increases in age it increases much more rapidly in diameter 

 than in height. Indeed, Dr. Welwitsch tells us that he never 

 saw one more than twelve or eighteen inches above the ground, 

 while they sometimes attain twelve to fourteen feet in circum- 

 ference, and, it has been said, even six feet in diameter. 



Another most peculiar feature is the manner in which the 

 leaves are attached to the plant. The division of the crown 

 from the stock is marked by a long transverse slit extending 

 the entire length of each lobe, and it is from these slits the 

 leaves spring. 



Dr. Hooker has so clearly described this singular arrange- 

 ment, that we cannot do better than give his own words. He 

 says, " It is (the slit) nearly an inch deep in the largest 

 specimen which I cut open ; it clasps the leaf base throughout 

 its extent when the plant is fresh ; but as the latter dies its 

 walls separate, leaving half an inch space between the upper 

 and lower surfaces at the widest part ; whether fresh or dry, 

 its orifice is so contracted that there is very little external trace 

 of its existence, and its lips clasp the leaf so tightly that the 

 latter, even when detached at the base, cannot be withdrawn 

 entire. The object of this arrangement is, no doubt, to 



