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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Two-flower Rush
Juncus biglumis L.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Rush (Juncaceae)
Flowering: July-September
Field Marks: This dwarf perennial has solitary heads on leafless stems. The heads consist of 2 flowers subtended by a single bract. The capsule which is sunken at the tip is longer than the sepals and petals.
Habitat: Wet gravels, sphagnum beds, around lakes and ponds, sometimes in shallow water.
Habit: Perennial herb with a short rhizome.
Stems: Upright, unbranched, bearing only a single head, smooth, up to 1 foot tall, usually much shorter.
Leaves: All basal or nearly so, inrolled into a very slender, hollow tube.
Flowers: 2-4 borne in a solitary head at the tip of the stem, the inflorescence subtended by a single bract that usually surpasses the head.
Sepals: 3, free from each other, purple-brown, 1/6-1/4 inch long, pointed or rounded at the tip.
Petals: 3, free from each other, purple-brown, 1/6-1/4 inch long, pointed or rounded at the tip.
Stamens: 6.
Pistils: Ovary superior, smooth.
Fruits: Capsules obovoid, sunken at the tip, up to 1/4 inch long, longer than the sepals and petals; seeds with a short appendage at either end.

Previous Species -- Jointed Rush (Juncus articulates)
Return to Species List -- Group 4
Next Species -- Chestnut Rush (Juncus castaneus)

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URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/4/juncbigl.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:25:01 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww54]