THE SEDGE FAMILY. 



127 



naWj in corn j^elds. If its grains are accidentally ground 

 with the corn they produce serious effects on those who par- 

 take of it. This may be considered the only poisonous or 

 deleterious grass native of this country. It is probably the 

 tares" spoken of in St. Matthew's Gospel, chap. xiii. ver. 25, 

 26, 27, and 29. 



The Sedge Family. 



(CYPERACEiE.) 



Annual or perennial grass-like plants growing in tufts, 

 generally having harsh, sharp-edged, sheathing leaves, and 

 solid flower-stems without joints. The stems are either 

 cylindrical or angular. Flowers monoecious or dioecious, 

 generally in spikelets, or catkin-like heads, each flower con- 

 sisting of scale-hke bracts or glumes, as in grasses. Stamens 

 generally 3. Pistils 1. Style bifid or trifid. Fruit a 

 1 -seeded, hard, bony nut, often angular. 



This family consists of about 2000 species, found, like 

 grasses, in all parts of the world, even extending to the 

 utmost limits of vegetation in the polar regions. They 

 grow in pools, ditches, and on river banks, commons, waste 

 places, mountain tops, and dry sandy parts of the sea-shore. 



They diff'er from grasses in having no fecula, or sweet 

 principle, and are almost useless as food to either man or 

 cattle. Some few have a medical reputation in their native 

 countries, but none are of any special importance. 



In this country the family is represented by numerous 

 species of the genus Carex^ commonly known as sedges. 



Several species of Cyperus have tuberous roots, and are 

 cultivated in India and China for food. C. esculentus is 

 cultivated in the south of Europe. 



Cyperus textilis and C. corymbosus are extensively em- 

 ployed in India for making ropes and mats for covering 

 floors, and for other domestic purposes. 



Bulrush (^Scirpus lacustris) grows abundantly in ditches 

 and watery places in this and other countries of Europe and 

 in Western Asia. It is extensively used for making mats and 

 ropes, but more especially for chair bottoms and hassocks. 



