Restionaceae - Cape reed family

Perennial, usually dioecious, rush- or sedge-like herbs. Rootstock tufted or rhizomatous, bearing dense scaly sheaths. Culms usually bearing a convolute leaf sheath; ligule usually 0. Inflorescence a spike, raceme or panicle, often different in male and female plants. Spikelets subtended by a sheath. Flowers usually unisexual. Perianth of 6 segments in 2 whorls. Male flowers: stamens 3; anthers 1-thecous. Female flowers: staminodes 0-3; ovary superior, 1-3-locular with 1 ovule per loculus; styles 1-3. Fruit a capsule or nutlet.

Worldwide: 41 genera and 420 species, mainly southern hemisphere and especially Australia and South Africa but with one species in Vietnam.

Malawi: 1 genus and 2 taxa.