About

Soft rush is a thin, tuft-forming rush that grows in wet woodlands, marshes, ditches and grasslands. It has smooth, green stems, which can be easily peeled to produce the pith. Traditionally, this was soaked in fat and used as wicks in household lamps as it was a cheaper alternative to candlelight; this practice was revived during the Second World War in some rural areas. As with other sedges and rushes, soft rush spreads with creeping rhizomes (underground stems); it flowers from May to July.