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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Merten's Rush
Juncus mertensianus Bong.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Rush (Juncaceae)
Flowering: June-August
Field Marks: This rush is distinguished by its solitary spherical head with flowers having purple-black sepals and petals and round-tipped capsules shorter than the sepals and petals.
Habitat: Wet meadows, along streams, in fens, at many elevations in the mountains.
Habit: Perennial herb from stout rhizomes.
Stems: Upright, up to 10 inches tall, smooth.
Leaves: Alternate, elongated, rolled into a hollow tube, septate, up to 1/10 inch wide.
Flowers: Numerous, crowded into a solitary head, the head spherical, up to 1/2 inch in diameter, subtended by a bract that surpasses the inflorescence.
Sepals: 3, lanceolate, pointed at the tip, purple-black, up to 1/6 inch long.
Petals: 3, lanceolate, pointed at the tip, purple-black, up to 1/6 inch long, shorter than the sepals.
Stamens: 6.
Pistils: Ovary superior.
Fruits: Capsules mostly triangular, rounded at the tip, up to 1/4 inch long, shorter than the sepals and petals.

Previous Species -- Long-style Rush (Juncus longistylis)
Return to Species List -- Group 4
Next Species -- Mexican Rush (Juncus mexicanus)

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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:25:07 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww55]