From a distance, with a little imagination, they look like a prickle of porcupines. Closer, they are spiky clumps of soft-rush Juncus effusus, which seem to creep farther across this pasture every year.
Superficially, this is one of the least charismatic members of our native flora, with its bundles of long, olive green, quill-like leaves. But splitting these open reveals pith packed with tiny silver star-shaped cells, forming a three-dimensional lattice: Stellate parenchyma.
Two hundred years ago, soft-rush pith brought a glimmer of light to the long hours of winter darkness. Illumination after dusk came from a fire in the grate, oil lamps, or candles. From 1709 until 1830, successive governments imposed an ever-increasing tax on candles. So, the rural poor resorted to rushlights.
Soft-rush pith, spongy, absorbent, encased in…