270 



THE SEDGES. 



Bulrushes, used in making matting, chair-bottoms and baskets, are 

 the culms of Scirpus lacustris and other kinds. 



The Tule, or Giant Rush, growing in inundated places, is Scirpus 

 vdlidus. In the valley of the Sacramento, Cal., it rises 12 feet high, 

 covering thousands of acres. 



The Cotton Grass (Eri6phorum) is conspicuous in our wet northern 

 meadows for its airy cotton-like tufts waving in the wind. These tufts 



6, Cyperus Papyrus. A 

 scene in ancient Thebes, on 

 the River Nile. 



are composed of the 



long hairs, called setce, 



growing in each of 



the crowded flowers, in 



the place of a perianth. Five species are described in our floras 

 (Botanist and Florist, p. 362), of which E. Virginicum, with reddish 

 cotton, displays the largest tufts. 



The Rush or Bulrush of the Nile (Hebrew, Gome, Exodus ii., 3) is 

 Papprus antiquorum (Willd.), or as now called, Cyperus Papyrus (Linn.). 



