Welwitschiaceae is a family of plants of the order Gnetales with one living species, Welwitschia mirabilis, found in southwestern Africa.

[2] German naturalist Friedrich Markgraf coined the name Welwitschiaceae in 1926, which appeared in Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien.

[6] Fossil evidence indicates that members of the Welwitschiaceae were present in South America during the Early Cretaceous (Mesozoic era).

[1] Welwitschiostrobus murili is a fossil taxon known from some cones that resemble the living Welwitschia, but are longer and thinner.

[1] Jacobson and Lester[8] suggest that these early habitats were more mesic than the current desert conditions, and that the present fragmented and isolated population distribution could be attributed to aridification during the Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary, which restricted the plants to locales providing sufficient water for their needs.