sedge (C. albursi'na, syn. C. laaci-flora latifolia), have leaves up to 

 iy 2 inches wide. The leaves of most species on the western ranges, 

 however, are less than one-fourth of an inch wide. In general, the 

 dryland species have very fine, dull, or brownish-green foliage; the 

 moist-soil species characteristically possess thin, bright green leaves 

 less than one-fourth of an inch wide; and the wet, swampy, or bog- 

 inhabiting species, broad, long, tough, brownish-green leaves. 



The stems, of course, vary in height and size with the various 

 species. A few of the more robust, western, wet-site sedges com- 

 monly attain a height of 3 feet or more, but most species range 

 from 8 to 20 inches in height. The dryland species in the West, 

 however, are principally less than 8 inches high. The stems may 

 or may not be leafy, but when leafy the upper leaves become bract - 

 like and subtend the flower heads, or spikes. The flower cluster in 

 its simplest form, as in threadleaf sedge, consists of one terminal 

 spike. In ovalhead sedge and similar species several spikes are 

 closely aggregated into a head which has the general appearance of 

 one large terminal spike. Other sedges, as beaked sedge (C. rostra! ta) 

 and Nebraska sedge (C. nebrashen' sis) , have two types of spikes: 

 (1) terminal, relatively small, staminate or male, and (2) lower, 

 axillary, larger and pistillate, or female. In many species, as in 

 threadleaf sedge, both male and female flowers are borne in the 

 same spike, with the male flowers uppermost, but in many others 

 the female flowers are in the upper half of the spike. 



The individual flowers are small, inconspicuous, and relatively 

 simple in structure. Each flower, whether male or female, is sub- 

 tended by a small scale, which corresponds to the glume of the grass 

 flower. Although these scales are small, their variations in length, 

 shape, color, and other characteristics are used frequently in botani- 

 cal keys to separate species. The male flowers, with three or some- 

 times two stamens, are little used in species differentiations, as 

 botanical keys are based largely on the character of the female 

 flower, especially the mature fruit. The female flowers terminate 

 in two or three threadlike stigmas. The often three-angled seed, 

 which is an achene, is enclosed in a saclike body called the peri- 

 gynium. The length, shape, and character of the surface, margins, 

 and beak of the perigynium are all commonly used in botanical keys 

 to separate major groups as well as species. 



The popular impression that sedges are plants which occur ex- 

 clusively in moist and wet situations lacks verity. Some species, 

 notably elk sedge (C. grey'eri), grow on well-drained and dry 

 slopes, and in timber. Threadleaf sedge and similar species com- 

 monly form dense and extensive, sodlike areas on open and dry 

 plains, benches, and flats. Other species, such as Douglas sedge, 

 inhabit meadow borders and other semimoist soils, and frequently 

 form a distinct zone between the dryland vegetation and the wet 

 meadow or other moist-soil types. 



Sedges are usually adaptable to soils of various origins, provided 

 they are moderately fertile and moisture conditions are favorable. 

 Ordinarily, however, these plants are limited wholly to soils of 

 neutral or acid reaction. Frequently, the extremely wet, highly 

 organic soils of bogs and swamps are distinctly acid. Sedges are 



