SEDGE FAMILY 



23 



overlapping each other on 1 -many-flowered splkelets ; these 

 are variously grouped in spikes, panicles, and so on. Fruit 



Fig. 4. Vernal grass (Anthoxanthum) 



A, a one-flowered spikelet : a, b, the outer empty glumes. B, a spikelet with the 

 outer glumes removed : c, c, the inner empty glumes (neuter flowers) with 

 long, bristle-shaped appendages ; d, e, palets ; anth., anthers ; stlg., stigmas. 

 C, diagram of cross section of a spikelet: a, glume; d, palet. D, a fruit. 

 (All magnified.) (After Cosson and De Saint-Pierre) 



a grain. (The family is too difficult for the beginner, but the 

 structure and grouping of the flowers may be gathered from a 

 careful study of Figs. 2, 3, 4.) 



5. CYPERACE^. Sedge Family 



Grass-like or rush-like herbs, with solid, usually triangular, 

 stems, growing in tufts. The sheathing base of the generally 

 3-ranked leaves, wdien present, is not slit as in grasses. The 

 flowers are usually somewhat less inclosed by bracts than 

 those of grasses ; the perianth is absent or rudimentary ; 

 stamens generally 3 ; style 2-cleft or 3-cleft. 



