Abstract
Pollen from 38 species in the families Restionaceae, Anarthriaceae, Ecdeiocoleaceae, Flagellariaceae and Centrolepidaceae, have been studied with the light and electron microscopes. Scrobiculus density and other morphological features of these species are reported. Several different types of exine sculpture are recognised and the results discussed in the light of cytology and taxonomy. None of the pollen characters investigated can be used to identify with certainty the genus (or even, in some cases, the family) to which fossil pollen grains belong, although at least three present-day species can be recognised because of particular combinations of characters. The Tertiary fossil record of pollen grains of the type found in the Restionaceae is considered briefly.