Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


Home	About NPWRC	Our Science	Staff	Employment	Contacts	Common Questions	About the Site

Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Chestnut Rush
Juncus castaneus J. E. Smith

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Rush (Juncaceae)
Flowering: July-August
Field Marks: This alpine rush differs by its slender rhizomes, slender and pointed capsules longer than the sepals, and its seeds that have a tail longer than the rest of the seed.
Habitat: Along streams, around and in ponds, fens, usually at or near timberline.
Habit: Perennial herb with slender rhizomes.
Stems: Upright, smooth, up to 18 inches long.
Leaves: Alternate, elongate, hollow, septate, rounded into a tube or folded, up to 1/10 inch wide.
Flowers: Several crowded into 1-4 heads, each head surpassed by a subtending bract; flowers up to 15 per head.
Sepals: 3, purple-brown, narrowly lanceolate, pointed at the tip, up to 1/3 inch long.
Petals: 3, purple-brown, narrowly lanceolate, pointed at the tip, up to 1/3 inch long.
Stamens: 6.
Pistils: Ovary superior.
Fruits: Capsules lanceoloid, narrow, pointed at the tip, up to nearly 1/2 inch long, longer than the sepals and petals; seeds very narrow, with a tail longer than the body of the seed.
Notes: The seeds are eaten by small birds and small mammals.

Previous Species -- Two-flower Rush (Juncus biglumis)
Return to Species List -- Group 4
Next Species -- Colorado Rush (Juncus confuses)

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/4/junccast.htm
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:25:02 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww55]