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 saximontanus

Juncus mertensianus

Rocky Mountain rush

Mertens' rush
Habit Plants perennial, 20–60 cm tall, rhizomatous. Plants perennial 10–40 cm tall, loosely cespitose to short-rhizomatous, rhizomes not tuberous at nodes.
Leaves

flat; iris-like, blue-green, partially septate;

auricles 0–1.2 mm.

green, tubular, obviously hollow, septate;

auricles 1–2 mm.
Inflorescences

(2)10–20 clusters; clusters 4–25-flowered.

1(2) head-like clusters; clusters 12–60-flowered.
Flowers

tepals 6, often green (red) to medium brown (dark brown);

stamens usually 6;

filaments 0.6–1.1 mm;

anthers 0.4–0.9 mm;

style 0.4–0.9 mm.

tepals 6, dark brown or black;

stamens 6;

filaments 0.6–1.5 mm; shorter to longer than anthers 0.4–0.8 mm;

styles 0.5–0.7 mm.
Capsules

shorter than to longer than the tepals, brown to dark brown or blackish, obtuse or acute, 1-chambered.

shorter than or equaling the tepals, dark brown;

apices often notched or truncate; more or less beakless, 1-chambered.
Seeds

0.4–0.5 × 0.25–0.3 mm, apiculate, reticulate.

ellipsoid to ovoid, 0.4–0.6 × 0.2–0.25 mm, apiculate, reticulate.
2n

=40, 80.

Juncus saximontanus

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

Shores, creek banks, springs, swales, peatlands, ditches. 100– 2500m. BW, Casc, ECas, Lava, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to AK, northeast to Manitoba, southeast to TX, south to Mexico. Native.

Juncus saximontanus has six stamens per flower and is usually found east of the Cascade Range. It is weakly separated from J. ensifolius, which has three stamens per flower. Tepal color, inflorescence shape, and style length are unreliable means to separate them. A few plants have three to six stamens and are of uncertain status, perhaps representing hybrids.

Wet meadows, shores, peatlands, springs, wet ledges, ditches. 50–2900m. BR, BW, ECas, Sisk, Casc. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to AK, east to SD, southeast to NM. Native.

This species is similar to J. nevadensis, which regularly has more than one cluster per inflorescence.
Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 283
Peter Zika		 Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 280
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. orthophyllus, J. oxymeris, J. parryi, J. patens, J. pelocarpus, J. planifolius, J. ranarius, J. regelii, J. supiniformis, J. tenuis, J. tiehmii, J. torreyi, J. triglumis, J. trilocularis, J. uncialis
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. 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
Synonyms Juncus ensifolius var. brunnescens, Juncus ensifolius var. montanus, Juncus saximontanus var. robustior, Juncus saximontanus var. saximontanus, Juncus xiphioides, Juncus xiphioides var. xiphioides
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