Uncrowned Monarch of the Namib - Welwitschia mirabilis. 2013. illus. 280 p. 4to. Hardcover.- 25x32 cm. Bilingual (English / German).

The book is written and researched by renowned horticulturist Ernst van Jaarsveld from Kirstenbosch and environmentalist Uschi Pond. A monograph on a unique African plant with a wonderful array of photographic illustrations, paintings and scientific information for the book connoisseur and collector, the traveller, botanist, garderner or student alike!

Welwitschia - an extraordinary plant. With the family, genus and species all rolled into one, Welwitschia mirabilis is truly one of a kind. A rarity among rarities, it is found only in the Namib Desert extending from Namibia to Angola. Throughout the biological world and since the discovery of this bizarre Namib endemic in 1859, no other single plant has aroused the curiosity and attention of so many scientists. Welwitschia is the national plant of Namibia, and in Angola the coastal town of Tumboa bears the local name of Welwitschia.

Welwitschia is a true flagship species of the Namib Desert and although not the prettiest, it is the most perculiar and advanced due to its amazing botanically engineered life form with an incredible capacity to survive the Namib desert environment. It is no small wonder that Welwitschia is one of the most researched desert giants in the world.

This book explains not only where Welwitschia fits into the biotic world, but also its adaptions to a dry desert environment and its place in the Plant Kingdom What makes this plant so unique, aprt from being highly adapted to the Namib climate, is that it is a remnant of the past representing a group of plants which flourished on earth some 125 million years ago. Welwitschia is thus a true living fossil.