SPRING SEDGE 



Carex pennsylvanica Lam. 



Early spring As efficiently and as completely as any blossom of the 

 Woods springtime, the inconspicuous flowers of spring sedge 



open in the sunshine of early April. The sedge is not 

 often noticed; frequently it is passed by as "grass". It has no petals, no 

 beautiful flo\\er as flowers are rated as beautiful, yet the blossoming of 

 the spring sedge marks the beginning of a seasonal era as definite as the 

 change which came between glacial times and the interglacial periods. 

 The coming of spring sedge, often before other flowers bloom, is a sign 

 that winter officially is over and spring now may make its scheduled 

 appearance. 



Spring in Illinois is never a settled thing, never a time in which 

 one may put hisi finger upon a day and say, "Now spring begins." But 

 when the spring sedge l)looms in the sandy woods, then at least the blos- 

 soming time is inaugurated, and this sets off the period from winter, 

 when bloom is not the accepted thing. 



Carex 'pennsylvanica gi'ows three to eight inches high in a tufted 

 clump of rather stiff, gi'ass-like leaves all springing from the ruddy 

 base. The flowering stalks come up thin and leafless and produce upon 

 their tips a cluster of bright, pale yellow stamens with ruddy scales 

 l)elow. or less ornamental pistillate stalks which make seeds. That is nil. 

 This is the beginning of spring. The sedge is in bloom. 



Spring sedge is a menfl)er of a verv- extensive family, the Cyperaceac, 

 more than a thousand species of which have been named in the world. 

 Most of them are marsh-growing, wet-soil plants, but many are found in 

 moist woodlands and not a few tolerate dry ojien woods, among whicli is 

 the woods-growing spring sedge. It grows in dryish woodlands and on 

 violet banks when spring is on the land. 



