74 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 
a rule the sedges grow in lower ground and most of them make 
inferior pasture and hay. 
The Pea Family or the Legumes. — The legumes have a 
prominent place in agriculture for the twofold reason that 
they include many of our most valuable food plants and they 
a/ \¢ 
INDIAN Corn 
Tassel, the stam- 
inate flowers. Stoo, or RYE A SEDGE 
Ear, the pistillate Grown from a 
flowers. single seed. 
enrich the soil in which they grow. The characteristic 
feature which distinguishes these plants from others is the 
structure of the flower and the fruit. These are illustrated 
in the sweet pea. We may fancy that the general form of 
the flower resembles that of a butterfly. The corolla con- 
sists of five petals, the upper one being quite large, with two 
at the side of intermediate size and the two at the base much 
smaller. The last two are often fastened together so that 
they look like one piece. There are ten stamens, nine of 
