The Sedge Family 



though they may be grass "to the general" there is something in 

 the appearance of the small flower clusters that excites curiosity 

 and urges that botany and micro- 

 scope be brought into use. In 

 Clustered Beaked-rush {Rhynchos- 

 pora glomerata) the leaves are dark 

 green, narrow, and erect, and several 

 clusters of dark brown pointed spike- 

 lets are borne at intervals along 

 the stem. White Beaked-rush 

 (Rhynchospora alba), a smaller and 

 more slender species than the pre- 

 ceding, is also common in moist 

 grounds. The leaves of White 

 Beaked-rush are light in colour, and 

 the few flower clusters borne near 

 the summit of the stem are of 

 pure white. 



NUT-RUSHES. (ScUria) 



The Nut-rushes are small, slen- 

 der sedges, not uncommon in 

 marshes and low meadows during 

 midsummer, although seldom no- 

 ticed among the taller growth that 

 surrounds them. Low Nut-rush 

 {Scleria veriicillata) is very slender, 

 never more than three feet in 

 height and usually much less than 

 that. The stems are sharply three- 

 angled and bear a few narrow leaves 

 above which are the small spikelets 

 in four to six sessile, green or 

 purplish clusters. The ripened fruit 

 is more conspicuous than are the 

 flowers, as the shining white seed 

 is very prominent. The generic 

 name, derived from the Greek, al- 

 ludes to the hardness of these 

 "nuts," which are roughened by 

 303 



V 







1 Beaked- 

 ynchospora 



Low Nut-rush 

 Scleria verticillata 



