The forest reaches out and grabs. Not with hands. With hooks. A distinctive sedge with dark bronze-green leaves and hooked seed heads. The hooks attach to passing animals, dispersing the seeds. The leaves are tough and were used by Māori for weaving. The dark colour makes it a popular ornamental plant in gardens. A sedge that hitches a ride. The leaves are long and narrow, arching outward from the centre of the clump. The colour is a rich bronze-green, darker than most other sedges. The seed heads are held on tall stalks above the leaves. Each seed has a long, curved hook at the tip. A design that raises questions. The answers are in the fur. The hooks are a clever adaptation for seed dispersal. When an animal brushes against the seed head, the hooks catch on fur or feathers. The seed is carried away, eventually falling off in a new location. This is how the plant spreads through the forest. A sedge that travels on the backs of others. Hook sedge is common in forest understorey throughout New Zealand. It grows in damp, shaded sites, often along tracks and stream banks. The dark colour makes it stand out against the green of the forest. To find hook sedge is to walk the forest understorey. Look for the dark bronze-green leaves, the hooked seed heads. The hooks catch on clothing, a reminder that the forest is full of small inventions. It is a plant of the shady places, a sedge of the forest floor. Walk through the bush. Come out with hooks on the sleeves. The sedge does not apologise. It does not need to. That is how it gets around. And that seems to be enough.