EESTIACE/E — CYPEKACEiE. 627 



Order 212. — Restiace.«i, the Eestio or Cord-rush Family. 

 (Mono-Periffyn). Flowers frequently unisexual. Perianth gluma- 

 ceous, sometimes 0. Stamens definite, perigynous, when two or 

 three in number opposite the inner glumes ; anthers usually 1- 

 celled. Ovary 1- or more celled, sometimes composed of several car- 

 pels ; ovules solitary, pendulous ; styles and stigmas 2 or more. 

 Fruit capsular or nuoumentaceous. Seeds pendulous ; embryo lenti- 

 cular, outside mealy albumen, remote from the hilum. — Herbs or 

 undershrubs, with narrow simple leaves or none, naked or sheathed 

 culms, and spiked or capitate, bracteated flowers. They are found 

 chiefly in America and Australia. They have few properties of 

 importance. The tough wiry stems of Willdenmia teres and some 

 Restios are used for making baskets and brooms. Eriocaulon septan- 

 gulare is a native of Britain, being found in the Isle of Skye, as well 

 as in the West of Ireland. In Brazil there exist branched Eriocau- 

 lons six feet high. In 1764, Linnaeus described only 5 species of 

 Eriocaulon in all the world, while Gardner collected in Brazil 100 

 species. The Diamond districts of Brazil are great centres of Erio- 

 caulons. There are, according to Lindley, 36 genera and 372 species: 

 Examples — Restio, Centrolepis, Eriocaulon. 



Sub-class II. — GLUMiFEE.a:. 



Flowers glumaceous, consisting of bracts or scales, which are 

 imbricated, and not arranged in true verticils. 



Order 213. — Cypebacb*, the Sedge Family. (Mono-Hypog .) 

 Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, generally without a perianth. 

 Each flower furnished with a solitary bract (glume or scale). These 

 bracts are imbricated upon a common axis, and the lowermost are 

 often empty. Occasionally they enclose two or three opposite mem- 

 branous bracts or glunies. In the female flower of Oarex the two 

 inner bracts receive the name of Perigynium (fig. 332, p. 209). Sta- 

 mens hypogynous, definite, 1-12; anthers dithecal, 

 innate. Ovary 1-celled, often surrounded by hypogynous 

 bristles (setae), which are probably abortive filaments ; 

 ovule erect, anatropal; style single, 2-3-cleft ; stigmas "^ 

 undivided, sometimes bifid. Fruit a crustaceous or bony 

 achsenium or nut (fig. 615, p. 341) ; embryo lenticular, 

 enclosed within the base of fleshy or farinaceous albumen 

 (fig. 615 e, p. 341) ; plumule inconspicuous (fig. 869).— Kg. 869. 

 Grass-like herbs with fibrous roots. Their stems are solid, often with- 

 out joints, sometimes creeping (fig. 108, p. 48), frequently angular. 



Fig. 869. Embryo of Carex depauperata, separated, to show the structure of that body 

 n the natural order Cyperacese. r, Ea^lole. c a, Ootyledon. /, Slit for the plumule. 



