The Sedge Family 



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both forms are borne in the same spike that part which bears 

 staminate flowers is slender and contracted, and the pistillate 

 part, which is sometimes at the base of ., 



the spike, sometimes in the middle, and 

 occasionall}' at the summit, is swollen with 

 seed, thus giving a ragged, uneven ap- 

 pearance to the inflorescence. The seed is 

 enclosed in a sac, known as the perigynium, 

 and the form of the seed is determined by 

 the number of stigmas: when there are two 

 stigmas the seed is more or less compressed, 

 or two-edged, while with three stigmas the 

 form of the seed is triangular. Each flower 

 is protected by a scale, or bract, and a close 

 observance of the form of the scale is of 

 the utmost importance in determining the 

 species. 



Brilliant colours are seldom found in 

 this genus; the rose and purple which adorn 

 the flower of the grass are lacking, and 

 the blossoming spikes of sedges are of dull 

 green or brown, while rarely is the base of 

 the stem tinged in reddish. 



Our first acquaintance with sedges is 

 usually gained by using the stout clumps 

 of Tufted Sedge {Carex strida) as stepping- 

 stones while crossing a wet meadow. This 

 sedge is one of our most common species, 

 and the tufts of long, gracefully spreading 

 leaves should be well known to those who 

 search the swales for orchids and pitcher- 

 plants, since the firm tussocks save one 

 many an undesired plunge into muddy 

 water. The Tufted Sedge blooms from 

 June till August and is very common by 

 damp waysides and in wet soil, where the 

 plant is usually about three feet in height 

 with rough, three-angled stems at whose 

 summits are borne three to five narrow, 

 erect spikes of blossoms. The spikes are 



307 



Pennsylvania Sedge 

 Carex pennsylvanica 



