180 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 
Fic. 47.—A wood-rush 
(Lazula campestris). 
a, Unripe seed-vessel cut across ; 
4, ripened and emptied seed-vessel. 
‘‘water-’ and the 
‘¢ wood ’'-rushes, and a 
tyro can refer his par- 
ticular specimen to its 
own group at a glance, 
for all the water-rushes 
are smooth and all the 
wood-rushes are hairy 
(Fig. 47). 
Both sorts have round, taper- 
ing blossom-stems, sometimes 
hollow, but generally filled with 
a continuous fine, white pith. 
In old times this pith served 
for the wicks of the ‘‘rush- 
lights” which made darkness 
visible to our  great-grand- 
fathers, and whose inadequacy 
fostered the habits of early 
getting to bed, now abandoned 
by a generation of night-owls, 
abetted by gas and electricity. 
The leaves of the water- 
rushes are generally round, 
smooth, and glossy, and those 
of many species resemble 
the stems in all points, 
