Welwitschiaceae

Welwitschiaceae, family of gymnosperm plants in the order Gnetales. The only extant genus, Welwitschia, comprises a single species, W. mirabilis, native to the Namib desert of southwestern Africa. A number of fossilized leafy shoots, seedlings, pollen, and microstrobili (cones) similar to Welwitschia from the Early Cretaceous have been found. Scientists generally recognize three extinct genera as part of the family Welwitschiaceae: Priscowelwitschia, Welwitschiophyllum, and Welwitschiostrobus. The existence of gnetophytes in the fossil record has been based primarily on these and certain other fossils.

The sole living species is an unusual plant with a deep taproot that resembles a giant radish. From the base of the cone-shaped trunk, two broad, flat, straplike leaves grow throughout the life of the plant but are kept about 3 metres (nearly 10 feet) in length by erosion at the tips. Other than these, the only leaves produced during the plant’s life are a pair of cotyledons (seed leaves), which generally wither less than 18 months after the seed germinates, and a pair of inconspicuous scalelike leaves that protect the stem tip. The staminate (male) and ovulate (female) cones grow in a ring above the leaves.

How these bizarre large plants manage to survive in desert environments with less than 100 mm (4 inches) of annual rainfall is poorly understood. Amazingly, some individual specimens of Welwitschia have been estimated to be 1,500 to 2,000 years old.