Rushes and Sedges 183 



green sepals, with semi-transparent edges (Fig. 49) 

 touched with brown or rose, and three petals, 

 which are often chaffy and semi-transparent through- 

 out. Some rushes have three stamens, some have 

 six, and at the heart of the flower is the pistil 

 with three feathery stigmas spread abroad like the 

 lines in the letter Y. These are often rosy-red, 

 and their little plumes glisten like spun-glass, so 

 that the flowers are pretty, even now, when the 

 colors have faded from their petals. They close, 

 finally and in conclusion, soon after they are 

 picked, so that one who would identify the species 

 had better take his "key" into the fields. 



One of the wood-rushes still shows remarkable 

 approximation to the conditions of insect-fertilized 

 flowers, and two of them are visited, now and 

 then, by insects. 



It seems probable that the little petals, now sere 

 and translucent, were once soft in texture and 

 lovely in hue. 



In those days insects may have " visited around " 

 among the rushes numerously and often. 



But the petals and sepals which the flowers wear 

 nowadays are ineffective for display or allure- 

 ment, and seem to be produced merely for 

 "old sake's sake." 



