Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
61. Juncaceae, the Rush Family
1. Juncus L. -- Rush15. Juncus scirpoides Lam.
Culms solitary or tufted from stout, whitish rhizomes, 2-8 dm tall. Leaves mostly 2-3 per culm, the uppermost leaf not surpassing the inflorescence; blades terete, hollow, nodulose-septate, mostly 1-2 mm wide; sheaths green or the lower ones reddish, membranous-margined above, prolonged as membranous auricles (1)2-3 mm long. Inflorescence compact and narrow to open with a few spreading branches, (1)2-12 cm long; glomerules (1)2-15, many-flowered, spherical to somewhat lobed, with dense subclusters of flowers, 6-12 mm across. Flowers greenish to eventually dull brown, 2.5-4 mm long; tepals attenuate, the outer considerably longer and with sharper, more rigid tips than the inner; stamens 3. Capsules subulate, 1-locular, equaling to slightly exceeding the outer tepals, dehiscing from the base and coherent above; seeds ovoid, brown, 0.3-0.5 mm long, apiculate on the ends. Jun--Sep. Sandy wet meadows, shores and stream banks; uncommon in the NE Sand Hills; (NY to MI and n NE, s to FL and TX).
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