\Wel*witsch"i*a\, n. [NL. So named after the
discoverer, Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch.] (Bot.)
An African plant ({Welwitschia mirabilis}) belonging to the
order {Gnetace[ae]}. It consists of a short, woody, topshaped
stem, and never more than two leaves, which are the
cotyledons enormously developed, and at length split into
diverging segments.