Sawgrass is a tall, tough plant with sharp-edged leaves that grows in wetlands, especially in the Florida Everglades. Despite its name, it's not actually a grass at all: it's a type of sedge, a grass-like plant that thrives in shallow water and marshy ground.

The name comes from those leaves, which have tiny, razor-sharp teeth along their edges that can cut like a saw blade if you brush against them carelessly. These jagged edges protect the plant from animals that might want to eat it. Sawgrass can grow six to ten feet tall, forming vast meadows that stretch as far as you can see in places like the Everglades. Early explorers and settlers found these sawgrass prairies almost impossible to cross on foot because the sharp leaves could slice through clothing and skin.

For the Everglades ecosystem, sawgrass is essential. It filters water as it flows slowly through the wetlands, and countless animals, from tiny insects to alligators, depend on sawgrass marshes for food and shelter. The plant is so associated with the Everglades that people sometimes call that vast wetland the “River of Grass,” though “River of Sawgrass” would be more accurate.