Classification of Plants 



Z49 



Restiacem. 

 Flowers dicecious. 



Perianth of 6 glumes in two 



whorls. 

 Anthers i-celled. (In S. A. 



genera.) 

 Ovary i to 3-celled, dehiscent 



or indehiscent. 

 Ovule pendulous orthotropous. 



Graminacea. 



Flowers perfect or monoe- 

 cious. 

 Perianth (?) of two or three 



lodicules. 

 Anthers 2-celled. 



Ovary i -celled, indehiscent. 



Ovule, erect anatropous. 



Both grasses and Restiaceas have leaves with split sheathes. 

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

 sheath. 



The Restiacege are much more difificult to determine than 

 the grasses or sedges, as the different species grow intermingled 

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

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

 the inflorescences are different in the pistillate and staminate 

 flowers of the same species. 



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

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

 The Restiaceze 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 . 



DOVEA . 



Fruit indehiscent. 



Leptocarpus 



Thamnochortus 

 Pistillate flowers solitar 



Hypodiscus . 



Elegia . 



Sheaths persistent. 

 Sheaths deciduous. 

 Flowers in dense spikes. 



Fruit angular. 

 Fruit flattened. 



Flowers on a fleshj- stalk. 

 Flowers in panicles. 



' They diff'er 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 leaves something like a pineapple. It some- 

 titnes nearly fills rivers, 



