Welwitsch concurred and supplied some well-preserved material from which Hooker was able to make substantial progress in determining its botanical affinities.

It is called kharos or khurub in Nama, tweeblaarkanniedood ('two leaves; can't die') in Afrikaans, nyanka in Damara, and onyanga in Herero.

The tips of the leaves split and fray into several well-separated strap-shaped sections by the distortions of the woody portions surrounding the apical slit, and also by wind and adventitious external injuries.

The most common of the true bugs attending Welwitschia is a member of the family Pyrrhocoridae, Probergrothius angolensis, but a hypothesized role in pollination has so far not been demonstrated.

[16] Welwitschia has been classified as a CAM plant (crassulacean acid metabolism) after reconciliation of some initially contradictory and confusing data.

[17][18] There are however some very puzzling aspects to the matter; for example, the employment of the CAM metabolism is very slight, which was part of the reason that it took so long to establish its presence at all; it is not understood why this should be.

[12] Because Welwitschia only produces a single pair of foliage leaves, the plant was thought by some to be neotenic, consisting essentially of a "giant seedling."

Instead, the plant is more accurately thought to achieve its unusual morphology as a result of having "lost its head" (apical meristem) at an early stage.

There is evidence of a whole genome duplication followed by extensive reshuffling, probably caused by extreme stress due to a time of increased aridity and prolonged drought some 86 million years ago.

This increase in retrotransposon activity was counteracted with a silencing DNA methylation process allowing to lower the metabolic cost of such a large genetic material and improve resilience.

[23] The area is arid; the coast is recorded as having almost zero rainfall, while less than 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain falls annually below the escarpment in the wet season from February to April.

The remarkable longevity of Welwitschia favours its survival of temporary periods adverse to reproduction, but it offers no protection against circumstances of direct threat, such as overgrazing and disease.

Other threats include injury from off-road vehicles, collection of wild plants and overgrazing by zebras, rhinos, and domestic animals.