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Slender Rush (Juncus tenuis)

• Family: Rush (Juncaceae)
• Flowering: May-September.
• Field Marks: This rush has slender, flat leaves and leaf sheaths with white, transparent teeth.
• Habitat: Wet ground, along streams, in pathways.
• Habit: Tufted perennial herbs.
• Stems: Erect, wiry, smooth, slender, up to 1 1/2 feet tall.
• Leaves: Elongated, narrow, flat, shorter than the flowering stem, up to 1/12 inch broad; the sheath of the leaf with white, transparent teeth.
• Flowers: Several on branches of unequal length, all subtended by at least the lowest bract.
• Sepals: 3, green or green-brown, narrowly lanceolate, up to 1/6 inch long.
• Petals: 3, green or green-brown, narrowly lanceolate, up to 1/6 inch long.
• Stamens: 6.
• Pistils: Ovary superior.
• Fruits: Capsules oblongoid to obovoid, rounded at the tip, shorter than the sepals and petals; seeds minute.
• Notes: This species is usually called path rush.