Chapter XXV. 



Rushes, Lilies, Blue Flags and Orchids, 



The ninth order includes the rushes, the lilies, and their allies, 

 the bloodworts, the amaryllises, the yams, and the blue flags 

 or irises. These all unite in the general character of the flower 

 which is made up of the six portions belonging to the perianth, 

 three or six stamens and three fused carpels. The flower of the 

 familiar Easter lily is, in its structure, typical of the whole order. 

 Rushes. About twenty species of rushes occur in Minne- 

 sota. They are for the 

 most part perennial 

 grass-like herbs, com- 

 mon upon sand beach- 

 es, in prairie sloughs 

 and back a little way 

 from the borders of 

 marshes or 'swamps. 

 The flowers are ordi- 

 narily clustered and 

 are characterized by 

 the inconspicuous 

 chaffy appearance of 

 the six perianth leaves. 

 They are not, however, 

 subtended by scales 



and arranged in spikelets as are the grass and sedge flowers; 

 and rushes need not be mistaken for any of the lower families 

 if their flowering tracts are carefully observed. The fruit in 

 rushes is a small capsule which splits at the sides like the much 

 larger fruit of the iris. The seeds vary in number from three 

 to several. There are usually three or six stamens in each 

 flower. 



FIG. 98. Sedges and rushes. After photograph by 

 Williams. 



