WEEDS OF MAINE. 279 



red lily — is plentiful on dry sandy soil, especially in the vicinity 

 of water. 



Order 38. RUSHES — JuNCACEiE. Sedge-like in appearance, 

 neither possessing beauty or value ; growing chiefly^in wet places. 



111, Soft Rush — Bullrush — JancxLs effusus. Perennial. Scapes, or culms, two to 

 three feet high, soft and pliable. Flowers small, green, in a loose spreading panicle, 

 ■which protrudes from a fissure opening in the side of the culm about half way up. 



A very common species in ditches and wet meadows. Its prev- 

 alence in the latter situation is a sure indication that the land 

 needs draining. 



112. Toad Rush — Juncus bufonius. Annual. Stem low and slender (three to nine 

 inches high) tufted. J^/owers greenish. Pot/s oblong obtuse. 



This is a most rascally little weed, growing by the roadside and 

 in hard worn paths, seeming to thrive best when most trodden 

 upon. A friend of ours, who is noted for his neatness, and whose 

 garden is' a perfect model, as far as the entire absence of all weeds 

 is concerned, remarked that th^ Toad Rush was the most trouble- 

 some weed he had to contend with, as it was the most difficult to 

 eradicate. It would grow in spite of all his efforts to keep it down. 

 A species much resembling the Toad Rush is the Juncus tennis — 

 slender rush — and it abounds in similar situations. It has tough 

 wiry stems, nine to eighteen inches high. 



Order 39. SEDGES— CypERACEiE. The sedges are grass-like, 

 or rush-like herbs, with fibrous roots and solid stems (not jointed 

 as in the grasses.) Leaves grass-like, with closed sheaths. 

 Flowers' green, rarely white or yellow, each in the axil of a little 

 gluvie (or bract,) forming spikes. 



This family numbers about 120 genera, and 2,000 species, dis- 

 tributed generally throughout the world, growing principally in 

 moist meadows, marshes and swamps. Few species rank higher 

 than worthless weeds ; all are destitute of the rich nutritive quali- 

 ties which so characterize the grasses, and make them so valuable 

 to the agriculturist ; and none are worthy of cultivation. Accord- 

 ing to Prof. G. L. Goodale, there are nine genera and about 120 

 species of this family found in Maine. Among the most obnox- 

 ious species inhabiting meadows we might mention Diandrous 

 Sedge, Bullrush — Scirpus pungens — Cotton Grass, and the like. 

 Of the genus Carex, which affords to Maine over eighty-five 

 species, the most noticeable ones are, first, the Fox Sedge, often 



