1 88 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



rounded by the dry petals and sepals of the little 

 flower, and by the same token we can always dis- 

 tinguish a rush from the wind's other fosterlings 

 afield (Fig. 51). 



The sedges can readily be recognized and known 

 from the grasses, their next of kin, for grass-stems 

 are usually hollow and always round, while those 

 of the sedges are solid, and, at least toward their 

 tips, triangular. Moreover, sedges grow in tus- 

 socks, and grasses form a close, continuous mat 

 upon the ground. 



The bases of sedge - leaves are not merely 

 wrapped about the stem, after the fashion of 

 the grasses, but they form seamless, tubular 

 sheaths, which invest it closely. 



In old England all sedges were included under 

 the name of "shear-grass," a term applied to 

 them on account of the sharp or scissor-like edges 

 of their narrow leaves. 



The same characteristic got them the name by 

 which we know them, for "sedge" and "saw" 

 are both derived from an old Teutonic word, 

 which means "to cut." 



The leaves are disposed along the stem in what 

 is known as the "three-ranked arrangement," the 

 fourth, as one counts upward, being directly 



