44 SEDGE. 



Withering places the genus Ca'rex, or Sedge, in 

 the third class, though it properly belongs to the 

 twenty-first, Moncecia, of Linnaeus. Most of the 

 Sedges grow on the banks of rivers^ ditches, and 

 ponds ; and if suffered to increase, will quickly fill 

 up any piece of water. They have creeping roots, 

 which easily make their way through swampy 

 ground ; and hence these plants are often found 

 in meadows. In Italy, the leaves of the sharp 

 Vernal Carex, Ca'rex acu'ta, are used by glass- 

 makers, to bind round flasks for wine and oil. 



