sedge family: Meaning and Definition of

sedge' fam"ily

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. the plant family Cyperaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, often found in wet areas, having solid stems, narrow, grasslike leaves with closed sheaths, spikes of very small flowers set in a scalelike bract, and a dry, flattened, convex fruit, and including the bulrush, chufa, cotton grass, papyrus, and umbrella plant.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.