| Welwitschiaceae Temporal range: Late Aptian-recent
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|---|---|
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| Welwitschia mirabilis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Gnetophyta |
| Class: | Gnetopsida |
| Order: | Welwitschiales |
| Family: | Welwitschiaceae Caruel |
| Type genus | |
| Welwitschia | |
Welwitschiaceae is a family of plants of the order Gnetales with one living species, Welwitschia mirabilis, found in southwestern Africa. Three fossil genera have been recovered from the Crato Formation – late Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) strata located in the Araripe Basin in northeastern Brazil,[1] with one of these also being known from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Akrabou Formation of Morocco.[2]
- ^ Dilcher, David L.; Bernardes-De-Oliveira, Mary E.; Pons, Denise; Lott, Terry A. (2005). "Welwitschiaceae from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil". American Journal of Botany. 92 (8): 1294–1310. doi:10.3732/ajb.92.8.1294. PMID 21646150.
- ^ Roberts, Emily A.; Martill, David M.; Loveridge, Robert F. (February 2020). "Phytogeographical implications of the probable occurrence of the gnetalean plant Welwitschiophyllum in the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Africa". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 131 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2019.10.002.