OregonFlora: Juncus howellii

	Juncus howellii
	Howell's rush
Habit	Plants perennial, 20–60 cm tall, rhizomatous.
Leaves	flat; grass-like, blue-green; up to 4.5 mm wide; auricles absent or 0.2– 2 mm.
Inflorescences	(2)5–20 clusters; clusters usually 2–8-flowered.
Flowers	tepals 6, dark brown, papillose; inner usually longer than the outer; stamens 6; filaments 0.6–1.1 mm; anthers 1.2–2.6 mm; styles 1.2–3.2 mm.
Capsules	obovoid; shorter than the tepals, brown; acute, 3-chambered.
Seeds	slender, 0.6–1 × 0.25– 0.3 mm; body 0.4–0.6 mm; tail 0.1–0.3 mm, 1 or 2 tails at least half the length of the seed body.

	Juncus howellii
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Springs, gravel bars, wet slopes, peatlands. 600–2200m. BW, Casc. CA, ID, WA. Native. Auricle characters are occasionally unreliable, so this species is best separated from J. orthophyllus and J. regelii by the intermediate length of the tail on the seed, with one or both seed tails about half as long as the seed body. Juncus orthophyllus has apiculate seeds without a tail, and J. regelii has seed tails approximately as long as the seed body.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 279 Peter Zika
Sibling taxa	J. acuminatus, J. anthelatus, J. articulatus, J. balticus, J. bolanderi, J. brevicaudatus, J. breweri, J. bryoides, J. bufonius, J. bulbosus, J. canadensis, J. capillaris, J. capitatus, J. compressus, J. confusus, J. conglomeratus, J. covillei, J. diffusissimus, J. drummondii, J. dudleyi, J. effusus, J. ensifolius, J. ensifolius x Juncus nevadensis, J. exiguus, J. falcatus, J. filiformis, J. gerardi, J. hemiendytus, J. hesperius, J. inflexus, J. interior, J. kelloggii, J. laccatus, J. lescurii, J. longistylis, J. marginatus, J. mertensianus, J. mexicanus, J. nevadensis, J. occidentalis, J. orthophyllus, J. oxymeris, J. parryi, J. patens, J. pelocarpus, J. planifolius, J. ranarius, J. regelii, J. saximontanus, J. supiniformis, J. tenuis, J. tiehmii, J. torreyi, J. triglumis, J. trilocularis, J. uncialis
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Juncus howellii

Howell's rush

Habit

Plants perennial, 20–60 cm tall, rhizomatous.

Leaves

flat; grass-like, blue-green; up to 4.5 mm wide;

auricles absent or 0.2– 2 mm.

Inflorescences

(2)5–20 clusters; clusters usually 2–8-flowered.

Flowers

tepals 6, dark brown, papillose; inner usually longer than the outer;

stamens 6;

filaments 0.6–1.1 mm;

anthers 1.2–2.6 mm;

styles 1.2–3.2 mm.

Capsules

obovoid; shorter than the tepals, brown; acute, 3-chambered.

Seeds

slender, 0.6–1 × 0.25– 0.3 mm;

body 0.4–0.6 mm; tail 0.1–0.3 mm, 1 or 2 tails at least half the length of the seed body.

Juncus howellii

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Springs, gravel bars, wet slopes, peatlands. 600–2200m. BW, Casc. CA, ID, WA. Native.

Auricle characters are occasionally unreliable, so this species is best separated from J. orthophyllus and J. regelii by the intermediate length of the tail on the seed, with one or both seed tails about half as long as the seed body. Juncus orthophyllus has apiculate seeds without a tail, and J. regelii has seed tails approximately as long as the seed body.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 279
Peter Zika

Sibling taxa

J. acuminatus, J. anthelatus, J. articulatus, J. balticus, J. bolanderi, J. brevicaudatus, J. breweri, J. bryoides, J. bufonius, J. bulbosus, J. canadensis, J. capillaris, J. capitatus, J. compressus, J. confusus, J. conglomeratus, J. covillei, J. diffusissimus, J. drummondii, J. dudleyi, J. effusus, J. ensifolius, J. ensifolius x Juncus nevadensis, J. exiguus, J. falcatus, J. filiformis, J. gerardi, J. hemiendytus, J. hesperius, J. inflexus, J. interior, J. kelloggii, J. laccatus, J. lescurii, J. longistylis, J. marginatus, J. mertensianus, J. mexicanus, J. nevadensis, J. occidentalis, J. orthophyllus, J. oxymeris, J. parryi, J. patens, J. pelocarpus, J. planifolius, J. ranarius, J. regelii, J. saximontanus, J. supiniformis, J. tenuis, J. tiehmii, J. torreyi, J. triglumis, J. trilocularis, J. uncialis

Web links

Local floras: CA, OR, WA
Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database
LBJ Wildflower Center
SEINet
Plants of the World Online
Encyclopedia of Life
Wikipedia
Google Image Search

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from OregonFlora.

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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Juncus howellii

Juncus howellii