It has been found that the adsorption of surface active elements like sulfur and oxygen promotes the growth of flake graphite, and in the absence of surface-active elements the prism face is faceted and develops a large kinetic barrier for growth. This leads, through default, to spiral growth on the basal face, and the consequent formation of spherulites. The growth of flake graphite, austenite and cementite is characterized by relatively high mobility nonfaceted interfaces, and is therefore essentially diffusion-controlled. Flake graphite grows one order of magnitude slower than austenite, and establishes a weakly coupled eutectic with austenite. Spirala growth on the basal (faceted) interface has a large kinetic barrier, compared with austenite.