Xyridaceae
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| Xyridaceae | ||||||||||
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| Missing image N_Xyrc_D9741.JPG Xyris complanata flower close-up | ||||||||||
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The Xyridaceae is a family of flowering plants also known as the Yellow-eyed grasses. These are grass-like perennial plants (some are annuals) of the tropics and subtropics. The family contains about 270 species in five genera. Most species grow in wet environments in North and South America, Asia, South Africa and Australia. The leaves are mostly distichous, linear, flat and thin or round with a conspicuous sheath at the base. They are arranged in a basal aggregation.
The small, yellow flowers are dioecious, bourne on a spherical or cylindrical spike or head (inflorescence). Each flower grows from the axil of a leathery bract. The fruit is a non-fleshy, dehiscent capsule. In Xyris complanata a single flower bud on the spike appears in the morning, and expands into a conspicuous flower during the afternoon hours.
Xyris_stand.jpg