Classification of Plants 249 



Restiacea. Graminacece. 



Flowers dioecious. Flowers perfect or monoe- 

 cious. 



Perianth of 6 glumes in two Perianth (?) of tvro or three 



whorls. lodicules. 



Anthers r -celled. (In S. A. Anthers 2 -celled. 



genera.) 



Ovary i to 3-celled, dehiscent Ovary i -celled, indehiscent. 



or indehiscent. 



Ovule pendulous orthotropous. Ovule, erect anatropous. 



Both grasses and Restiacese have leaves with split sheathes. 

 The blade of the leaf in Restiaceae usually falls, leaving the 

 sheath. 



The Restiaceae are much more difficult to determine than 

 the grasses or sedges, as the different species grow intermingled 

 on the veld, and it is difficult to determine which staminate 

 plants fertilize a given pistillate form. To add to the difficulty, 

 the inflorescences are different in the pistillate and staminate 

 flowers of the same species. 



Like the rushes, 1 they grow most luxuriantly in moist places, especi- 

 ally along the rivers' edge, where they reach a height of 6 to 10 feet. 

 The Restiace^ are found in Australia and South Africa, where they are 

 most abundant in the western portion. A few are found in New Zealand 

 and Cochin China. One species is found in Chili. The order contains 

 eleven genera, of which the following six are the most familiar : 



Fruit dehiscent. 



RESTIO Sheaths persistent. 



DOVEA ..... Sheaths deciduous. 



Fruit indehiscent. Flowers in dense spikes. 



LEPTOCARPUS . . . Fruit angular. 



THAMNOCHORTUS . . . Fruit flattened. 

 Pistillate flowers solitary. 



HYPODISCUS .... Flowers on a fleshy stalk. 



ELEGIA Flowers in panicles. 



1 They differ from the true rushes, Order Juncacese, to which Palmiet 

 belongs (Prionum palmita, E. Mey). This plant is the large rush with the 

 thick black spongy stems and leayes something like a pineapple. It some- 

 times nearly fijls rivers, 



