Restionaceae

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Restionaceae
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous-Recent, 66–0  Ma
Elegia capensis CHCH 2.JPG
Elegia capensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Restionaceae
R.Br.

The Restionaceae, also called restiads and restios, are a family of flowering plants native to the Southern Hemisphere; they vary from a few centimeters to 3 meters in height. Following the APG IV (2016): [1] the family now includes the former families Anarthriaceae, Centrolepidaceae and Lyginiaceae, and as such includes 51 genera with 572 known species. [2] Based on evidence from fossil pollen, the Restionaceae likely originated more than 65 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period, when the southern continents were still part of Gondwana. [3] [4]

Contents

Description

The family consists of tufted or rhizomatous, herbaceous plants belonging to a group of monocotyledons that includes several similar families, such as the sedges, rushes, and grasses. They have green, photosynthetic stems and leaves that have been reduced to sheaths. Their flowers are extremely small and in spikelets, which in turn make up the inflorescences. Male and female flowers are on separate plants and, like grasses, are wind-pollinated.

Distribution

Plants in the family are distributed on all the southern continents - South America (two spp., Apodasmia chilensis and Gaimardia australis ), Africa south of the Equator and including Madagascar (about 330 spp.) and Australia (about 150 spp.) - in New Zealand (four spp.) and widely distributed in Southeast Asia (one sp.). They are often dominant elements of the flora in the Mediterranean climates of South Africa and Western Australia. They are the defining family in the Western Cape fynbos plant community. [5] The South American species is very similar to one of the New Zealand species, leading to the conjecture that it might have crossed the Pacific in the last 30 million years. The distribution of restios in Africa is irregular, with the same single species occurring in Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Malawi, while a different species is found in the Chimanimani Mountains of eastern Zimbabwe. Four species are found in the Natal Drakensberg, one of which spills over into Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. The vast majority of species, though, are to be found in the Cape Floristic Region and particularly plentiful on hard sandstone formations. The center of diversity lies in the Kogelberg, where more than a third of all Restionaceae may be found. [6] Restionaceae are grown in Kirstenbosch, Cape Town's National Botanical Gardens.

A number of the largest African species have become popular as garden ornamentals in many parts of the world, some being useful as accent plants similar to small species of bamboo, but with pendant stems of greater delicacy. Also, many smaller species offer a great variety of decorative features and deserve horticultural attention.

Taxonomy

The family Restionaceae has been recognized by most taxonomists. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), recognizes this family and assigns it to the order Poales, in the clade commelinids of the monocots. The Cronquist system of 1981 also recognized this family and placed it in the order Restionales, in the subclass Commelinidae in class Liliopsida in division Magnoliophyta.

Genera

As of 2020, Kew's Plants of the World Online lists the following 48 genera in the family Restionaceae: [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poales</span> Order of monocotyledonous flowering plants

The Poales are a large order of flowering plants in the monocotyledons, and includes families of plants such as the grasses, bromeliads, rushes and sedges. Sixteen plant families are currently recognized by botanists to be part of Poales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyperaceae</span> Family of flowering plants known as sedges

The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus Carex with over 2,000 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapateaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Rapateaceae are a family of flowering plants. The botanical name has been recognized by most taxonomists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecdeiocoleaceae</span> Family of grasses

The Ecdeiocoleaceae comprise a family of flowering plants with two genera and three species. The botanical name has rarely been recognized by taxonomists.

The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a further revision, the APG IV system.

<i>Apodasmia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Apodasmia is a group of plants in the Restionaceae described as a genus in 1998. It is native to Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.

Hypolaena is a plant genus in the family Restionaceae, described as a genus in 1810. The entire genus is endemic to Australia.

<i>Alexgeorgea</i> Genus of grasses

Alexgeorgea is a genus of three plant species found in Western Australia belonging to the family Restionaceae named in honour of the botanist Alex George in 1976. The flowers of the female and large nut-like fruit are completely underground except for the stigmas, which extend out of the ground as 3 purple or red threads.

<i>Leptocarpus</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Leptocarpus is a genus of dioeceous rush-like perennial plants described as a genus in 1810.

<i>Willdenowia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Willdenowia is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Restionaceae described as a genus in 1790. The entire genus is endemic to the fynbos of the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

<i>Ceratocaryum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Ceratocaryum is a group of plants in the Restionaceae described as a genus in 1836. The entire genus is endemic to Cape Province in South Africa.

<i>Chaetanthus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Chaetanthus is a group of plants in the Restionaceae described as a genus in 1810. The entire genus is endemic to the southern part of Western Australia.

<i>Meeboldina</i> Genus of flowering plants

Meeboldina is a plant genus in the family Restionaceae, described as a genus in 1943. It is named for the botanical collector Alfred Meebold.

<i>Desmocladus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Desmocladus is a genus of herbs in the family Restionaceae, all species of which are endemic to Australia, and found in Western Australia and South Australia. In this genus, the stems are the principal photosynthesizers.

Baloskion longipes, common name dense cordrush, is a dioecious perennial herb in the Restionaceae family, found in southeastern New South Wales.

<i>Chaetanthus aristatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Chaetanthus aristatus is a species of rush. It is found in Western Australia.

Leptocarpus laxus is a rush species of the genus Leptocarpus in the family Restionaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

<i>Tremulina</i> Genus of flowering plants

Tremulina is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Restionaceae. The genus was first described in 1998 by Barbara Briggs & Lawrie Johnson. The type species is Tremulina tremula.

<i>Tremulina tremula</i> Species of plant

Tremulina tremula is a plant in the Restionaceae family, found in the south-west of Western Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016), "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161 (2): 1–20, doi: 10.1111/boj.12385
  2. ↑ Christenhusz, M. J. M. & Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 .
  3. ↑ Bremer, K. (2002). "Gondwanan Evolution of the Grass Alliance of Families (Poales)." Evolution, 56(7): 1374-1387. Archived 2013-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Linder, H. P. (1987). "The Evolutionary History of the Poales/Restionales: A Hypothesis". Kew Bulletin. 42 (2): 297. doi:10.2307/4109686. ISSN   0075-5974.
  5. ↑ Linder, H. Peter; Pia Eldenas; Barbara G. Briggs (2003). "Contrasting patterns of radiation in African and Australian Restionaceae". Evolution. 57 (12): 2688–2702. doi: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb01513.x . PMID   14761050.
  6. ↑ Restios of the Fynbos - Els Dorrat Haaksma, H. Peter Linder (Botanical Society of South Africa, 2000)
  7. ↑ "Restionaceae R.Br". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 1 December 2020.
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