C AREX STRICTA. — TUSSOCK-SE DGE. 



39 



plant, but on another spike, or even from a flower on a different 

 plant. The meaning was supposed to be that it was an arrange- 

 ment to avoid close breeding; but Mr. Darwin has shown that 

 for any benefit to result from cross-fertilization the two parent 

 plants must be growing under different conditions, which is not 

 the case with the numerous plants of this one Sedge growing in 

 the same swamp together. The true meaning of separate sexes 

 in flowers, therefore, still awaits discovery by some observing 

 student. 



The relative positions of the male and female flowers in the 

 Sedges will also interest the observer. In some cases the spike 

 of male flowers terminates the scape ; in others the male flowers 

 occupy the lower place ; in others, again, they have various places 

 on the same spike. It will be generally noted that this is asso- 

 ciated together with lines of nutrition, — those evidently favored 

 by comparative abundance sustaining the female flowers. And 

 this is indeed a natural consequence, for, as vitality exists so 

 much longer in the female than the male flowers, which gener- 

 ally die when the pollen has matured, it is essential that they 

 should have every advantage in this respect. Our present 

 species has the male spike terminal ; but as seen in the more 

 mature portion (Fig. 2), the apex of the female spike is sometimes 

 infertile. 



In the spring of the year the swamps along the lines of rail- 

 road tracks are often burned over, and it is interesting to note 

 that these tussocks, although exposed on all sides to fire, and left 

 as if they were mere lumps of ashes, push out their green blades 

 as if no fire had been about them. It is an excellent illustration 

 of the determination to succeed under severe trials, which is 

 generally successful in those who struggle with the ills of life. 

 In fact, such people are often better for having struggled, and 

 here we have a still further illustration, for the burned-over 

 plants have the full benefit of the salts contained in the con- 

 sumed vegetation, and push into growth of a healthy, bluish- 

 green, while those that have not been " tried as by fire," and 



