Velloziaceae are an angiosperm family that contains the most desiccation-tolerant species (approximately 200 out of 270 species). These species are distributed among five genera: Acanthochlamys, Xerophyta, Barbacenia, Barbaceniopsis and Vellozia. More than 80% of theVelloziaceae species occur in South America, where the greatest morphological diversity is also found. The genus Vellozia comprises both desiccation-tolerant and non-desiccation-tolerant species, offering an excellent model for studying the evolution of desiccation- and drought-tolerance traits on plant genomes. Desiccation-tolerant Vellozia nivea and evergreen Vellozia intermedia are both drought-tolerant, endemic to the Brazilian campos rupestres (rupestrian grasslands) and highly adapted to their extreme conditions. These are characterized by an extended dry season from May to September, high solar radiation and rocky, shallow, nutrient-poor soils with particularly very low phosphorus (P) availability. Here we report the genome assemblies of the two Vellozia using a PacBio based, single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing approach. Vellozia species are self-incompatible, and their genomes are highly polymorphic. The availability of high-quality genomes are crucial to allow the comparative analysis of specific genes and genes families encoding proteins characteristically involved with several molecular processes underlying responses to stresses.