The restiads invade the north: the diaspora of the Restionaceae

Restionaceae are an almost exclusively southern hemisphere plant family, related to the grasses (Poaceae). They show evidence of trans-oceanic dispersals, as well as an ancient Gondwanic link between Australia and southern Africa. The only exclusively tropical genus of Restionaceae is Dapsilanthus, recently segregated from Leptocarpus, with three species in northern Australia, New Guinea and the Aru Islands and one in south-east Asia (Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Hainan Island). Growing often in saline soils and producing small readily-dispersible nut fruits, Dapsilanthus and similarly the related genus Apodasmia (in east and west Australia, New Zealand and Chile) have dispersed far beyond the range of other Restionaceae.