Amazingly Bizarre Namib Desert Plants

The Namib is a largely unpopulated and inaccessible desert in Namibia and southwest Angola which forms part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Nicknamed the world’s oldest desert, it stretches 1,200 miles in length with an average width of only 70 miles along the coast of Namibia to form one of the most spectacular and richest deserts in the world. It’s also called the Skeleton Coast as many ships have been marooned on its treacherous coast. The Namib Desert is also home to the highest sand dunes in the world and some of the world’s rarest and most interesting flora.

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Pachypodium namaquanum, more commonly known as elephant’s trunk, clubfoot, halfman or halfmens is a succulent plant that can sometimes look like a tree when fully grown. The name halfmens (this is how they spell it) is an Afrikaan word meaning semi-human which came from the fact that from a distance the plants look like people walking up a slope. This spiny cactus-like plant which can reach up to 4 m tall can also attain an unmistakable bottle-like appearance. The flowers which appear from July to September are red on the inside and yellow-green on the outside. The crinkled leaves found at the top are velvety to the touch. Fruits are horn-like and brown in color. Halfmens are found in dry rocky deserts at altitudes from 300-900 m above sea level. It can live up to more than a hundred years old. The name Pachypodium is a Greek word meaning 'thick foot', an allusion to its swollen base, while namaquanum is a reference to Namaqualand, an arid region in South Africa. LINK