Gnetum

…1 family, Gnetaceae; 1 genus, Gnetum, with about 30 species. Order Welwitschiales 2 immense, permanent leaves, which become split and frayed with age; seeds with winglike extensions that may aid in dispersal; restricted to Namib Desert of Africa and vicinity; 1 family, Welwitschiaceae, with 1 member, Welwitschia mirabilis.

…gymnosperms; sperm nonmotile; extant genera Gnetum, Ephedra, and Welwitschia. Division Pinophyta (conifers) Gymnospermous plants; mostly trees with abundant xylem composed of tracheids only; resin ducts present; leaves

…Gnetophyta), composed of one genus, Gnetum, with 30 or more species. Trees predominate among the African species; most of the Asian varieties are woody vines, but among the exceptions is G. gnemon, a tree about 20 metres (65 feet) tall that yields a useful fibre and an edible, plumlike fruit.…

Species of Gnetum occur as woody shrubs, vines, or broad-leaved trees and grow in moist tropical forests of South America, Africa, and Asia. Welwitschia, restricted to extreme deserts (less than 25 mm [1 inch] of rain per year) in a narrow belt about 1,000 km (600 miles)…