234 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



A cluster of seed heads on a stalk of leafy three-square rush (S. robustus), in which 

 the seeds ripen during the late summer. It is believed the most economical way to plant 

 an area with this favorite 'rat food is to harvest the purplish-red heads and broadcast 

 the seeds on wet lands. 



While the native trapper knows the difference between 

 the three species as a rule he does not distinguish one from 

 the other, but calls them all "three-cornered grasses." How- 

 ever, he has folk or French or Spanish names for the dif- 

 ferent species, such as, for the leafy three-square : La canne 

 trois-quarts, "Cocoa grass," coco doux, and "sweet cocoa," 

 this last designation being given this species because of 

 the small black protuberances or "cocoanuts" found grow- 

 ing on the running root stalks of the perennial plant. 



The bayonet three-square club rush, considered by many 

 trappers to be the muskrat grass, carries the additional 

 French designation of Le jonc trois-quarts, while in the 

 Delacroix Island section the Spanish name of Yerba tres- 

 filos is frequently used. 



