Askidiosperma andreaeanum

Askidiosperma andreaeanum is a compact, tufted restio growing a rounded to erect tussock of many stems to heights from 50 cm to 1 m. The short rhizomes do not spread.

The species is dioecious, male and female flowers borne on separate plants. Glassy to transparent sheaths are spaced up the stems, dropping off and leaving only rings at the nodes.

Male plants bear small spikelets in inflorescences of from 4 cm to 100 cm long and 1,5 cm to 2,5 cm wide. The large spathes present below the clusters of these spikelets are longer than the small flowers. The cartilaginous spathes drop off soon. Small bracts, taller than the flowers, cover them.

The female inflorescences are few-flowered, linear, about 3 cm to 7 cm long and 1,5 cm to 2 cm wide, comprising up to ten spikelets. The spathes are also here longer than the spikelets, obscuring them and persisting. The subtending spikelet bracts are also taller than the flowers.

Flowering happens in the early part of summer. Seeds are ripe for release by mid-autumn. The generic name, Askidiosperma, is derived from the Greek word, askos meaning leather bag, wineskin or sac and sperma meaning seed.

The species is distributed in the southwest of the Western Cape, known around Paarl to Riviersonderend. The habitat is fynbos flats. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Dorrat-Haaksma and Linder, 2012; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).