May 24: Grey's (Morningstar) Sedge: Nature's origami

I don't know if you'd call this a wildflower but this looked pretty interesting to me, and it's my blog so it made it in! It's Grey's Sedge, though some people call it Morningstar Sedge because it looks like a little weapon.

Grey's (Morningstar) Sedge

Naturally I wondered if you can eat this. The only thing the Internet would reveal is that it isn't toxic. So I decided to do some field research, and tried it myself.

The spikeball feels light and papery, like a little origami. The filaments extending from each spike are sharp so the spikeball is not a lot of fun to put in your mouth. Each individual spike is grasslike and nearly hollow, and contains a tiny seed. The seeds are tender and don't taste bitter so I guess they're OK to eat. A better use for the spikeballs is probably as ornamental accents in bouquets.