OregonFlora species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Juncus orthophyllus

straight-leaved rush
Habit Plants perennial, 20–40 cm tall, rhizomatous.
Leaves

flat; grass-like;

auricles absent or inconspicuous, usually acute, 0–0.6 mm.
Inflorescences

3–12 clusters or head-like clusters; clusters 4–10-flowered.
Flowers

tepals 6, 5–6 × 1–1.4 mm; greenish brown, brown to dark brown, papillose;

stamens 6;

filaments 0.4–0.8(1) mm;

anthers 1.6– 2.8 mm;

styles 1.3–2.5 mm.
Capsules

oblong-ovoid, obtuse or truncate; shorter than the tepals, brown, 3-chambered.
Seeds

0.5–0.7 × 0.2–0.25 mm, reticulate, apiculate; tails less than 0.2 mm.
2n

=40.

Juncus orthophyllus
Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Floodplains, wet meadows, marshes, wet prairie, springs, ditches, serpentine wetlands. 300–1900m. BR, BW, Casc, Col, ECas, Owy, Sisk, WV. CA, NV, ID, WA; east to MT. Native.

This species is often confused with J. longistylis, which has prominent long auricles; J. orthophyllus auricles are inconspicuous or absent. Many reports from the southern Cascades are misidentifications of J. howellii, which grows at higher elevations and has more elongated tails on the seeds.
Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 282
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. howellii, J. inflexus, J. interior, J. kelloggii, J. laccatus, J. lescurii, J. longistylis, J. marginatus, J. mertensianus, J. mexicanus, J. nevadensis, J. occidentalis, 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 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from OregonFlora.



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in OregonFlora yet, or it's listed under a synonym.)

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

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers