Plants up to 200 years old

Welwitschia is a monotypic genus of gymnosperms, consisting of only one very rare species, namely Welwitschia mirabilis. This plant is generally referred to as Welwitschia, and has various names in local languages, for example kharos or khurub in Nama language, tweeblaarkanniedood in Afrikaans, nyanka in Damara language, and onyanga in Herero language. This plant is also the only genus from the Welwitschiaceae family and the Welwitschiales order, in the Gnetophyta division. Informal sources generally call them "living fossils". Welwitschia mirabilis is an endemic plant from the Namib Desert in the regions of Namibia and Angola.