Juncus acutiflorus |
Juncus occidentalis |
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sharpflower rush |
prairie rush, slender juncus, western rush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, rhizomatous, to 8 dm. | Herbs, perennial, cespitose, 3–6 dm. |
Rhizomes | 5–6 mm diam., nodes not swollen. |
densely branching. |
Culms | erect, terete, 3 mm diam., smooth. |
few–20. |
Cataphylls | 1, straw-colored, apex acute. |
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Leaves | basal 1, cauline 2; auricles 0.5 mm, apex rounded, cartilaginous; blade 7–45 cm x 1–2 mm, terete, not scabrous. |
basal, (1–)2–3; auricles 0.5–1(–1.5) mm, apex acutish, membranous; blade flat, 5–15 cm × 0.5–1.3 mm, margins entire. |
Inflorescences | terminal panicles of 70–120 heads, 6–10 cm, branches ascending; primary bract erect; heads 3–5(–8)-flowered, obconic, 2–4 mm diam. |
5–50-flowered, somewhat loose, 1–7 cm; primary bract usually longer than inflorescence. |
Flowers | tepals dark reddish brown, lanceolate, apex acuminate to subulate tipte; outer tepals 1.9–2.2 mm; inner tepals 2–2.3 mm; stamens 6, anthers 2 times filament length. |
bracteoles 2; tepals greenish, lanceolate, (3.5–)5 mm; outer and inner series nearly equal; stamens 6, filaments 0.5–1 mm, anthers 0.1–0.3 mm; style 0.1–0.2 mm. |
Capsules | inserted with beak exserted, straw-colored, 1-locular, narrowly ovoid, 2.3–2.4 mm, tapering to subulate tip, valves separating at dehiscence. |
light brown, 1-locular to pseudo-3-locular, ellipsoid, (3–)5–4.5 × 1.2–1.8 mm, nearly equal to shorter than tepals. |
Seeds | narrowly ovoid, 0.5–0.6 mm, not tailed; body clear yellow-brown. |
tan, ellipsoid to lunate, 5.5–0.7 mm, not tailed. |
2n | = 80. |
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Juncus acutiflorus |
Juncus occidentalis |
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Phenology | Fruiting fall. | Flowering spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Wet woods | Moist, usually exposed sites in clayey or sandy soil around springs, along rivers and streams, and around lakes |
Elevation | 0–10 m (0–0 ft) | below 2300 m (below 7500 ft) |
Distribution |
NF; SPM; Europe; Asia; Africa |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
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Discussion | Juncus occidentalis should perhaps be considered a robust variant of J. tenuis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | J. tenuis var. occidentalis, J. tenuis var. congestus | |
Name authority | Ehrhart: in G. F. Hoffmann, Deutschl. Fl. 1: 125. (1791) | (Coville) Wiegand: Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 27: 521. (1900) |
Web links |
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