6l2 WEEDS : SPECIAL 



The pulled leaves should be safely buried: the sooner the 

 better, for cases have occurred where cattle have been poisoned 

 by breaking into fields and eating collected leaves which had 

 been left in heaps unburied for a night. 



JUNCACE^. — To this Order belong Rushes represented by 

 two genera, namely, Juncus and Luzula. 



The commoner plants belonging to the genus Juncus are 

 known as true rushes and are mostly smooth perennials. Gener- 

 ally abundant on wet undrained land, they have creeping rhizomes 

 at very considerable depths below the surface of the ground. 

 Even when the surface appears somewhat dry the presence of 

 rushes indicate very wet soil, possibly 3 or 4 feet down, in 

 which the creeping stems are growing. 



In some species the round pithy stems which come above 

 ground are utilised for thatching and are almost devoid of 

 leaves. 



The flowers are regular and starlike, brown or greenish in 

 colour. 



The three most common rushes of this class are Juncus 

 effusus L., J. conglomeratus L., and J. glaucus Sibth. 



They may be considerably diminished by constant mowing, 

 but the only satisfactory means of complete extermination is 

 thorough drainage. 



The genus Luzula comprises the plants known as wood rushes ; 

 they are perennial plants with small brown starlike flowers like 

 the foregoing, but have flat grasslike leaves, generally fringed 

 with long white hairs, and are most frequent on dry soils. The 

 commonest species is Luzula campestris L., often abundant in 

 pastures and meadows. All the rushes are of poor feeding-value 

 and unpalatable to stock. 



CYPERACE^. — This Natural Order includes a large genus of 

 plants known as sedges or Carices. They are perennial plants, 

 with leaves resembling those of the grasses except that the leaf- 

 sheaths are closed instead of split as in the latter. Their stems 



