Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
61. Juncaceae, the Rush Family
1. Juncus L. -- Rush13. Juncus marginatus Rostk. -- Grassleaf rush
Rhizomatous perennial 2-5 dm tall; culms solitary or in small tufts, bulbous-thickened at the base. Leaves basal and cauline, 2-5 per culm, the blades flat, grasslike, 1-3 mm wide; sheaths green, membranous-margined, extended into 2 low, rounded auricles at the summit. Inflorescence open and spreading or sometimes narrow and congested, with 4-many hemispheric to subglobose glomerules containing several to many flowers. Flowers pale brown, 2-3.5 mm long; outer tepals broadly lanceolate, acute to acuminate, often awn-tipped; inner tepals elliptic-obovate, broader and longer than the outer ones, with broad, scarious margins, blunt-tipped; stamens 3. Capsules obovoid, nearly 3-locular, shorter than to equaling the tepals, rounded to retuse and apiculate at the apex; seeds ellipsoid or asymmetrically so, 0.3-0.5 mm long, apiculate at the ends. Jun--Sep. Wet meadows, spring borders and stream banks where water is fresh, often where sandy; occasional from sw and s SD through w and c NE; (Newf. to MI and SD, s to FL, TX and AZ).
Previous Section -- Juncus longistylis Torr.
Return to Family -- Juncaceae - The Rush Family
Next Section -- Juncus nodosus L. -- Jointed rush
