FNA: Juncus acutus vs. Juncus acutus subsp. leopoldii

	Juncus acutus	Juncus acutus subsp. leopoldii
	sharp rush, spiny rush	leopold's rush, sharp rush, wire grass
Habit		Herbs, perennial, robust, tufted, often forming clumps to 1 m diam., 6–12 dm.
Culms		3–4 mm diam.
Cataphylls		1–2.
Leaves		basal, 2–4; sheaths brownish, inflated; auricles absent or prolonged 1–3 mm, cartilaginous; blade terete, 30–100 dcm × 2–3 mm.
Inflorescences		sympodial or appearing lateral, glomerules numerous, each with 2–5 flowers, branches unequal, 5–20 cm; primary bract inflated, usually shorter than inflorescence.
Flowers		tepals straw-colored, brown-tipped, 2–4 mm; outer tepals widely lanceolate, margins scarious, apex obtuse to acutish; inner tepals rounded, shorter; stamens 6, filaments 0.2–0.4 mm, anthers 1.2–1.8 mm; style 1–1.2 mm.
Capsules		yellow-brown, pseudo-3-locular, nearly globose, 3.5–5 × 2.4–3.3 mm, obviously exceeding perianth, mucronate.
Seeds		brownish, obliquely obovoid, body 0.6–0.7 mm, tails 0.2–0.3 mm.

	Juncus acutus	Juncus acutus subsp. leopoldii
Phenology		Flowering and fruiting late spring–summer.
Habitat		Moist saline habitats and alkaline seeps
Elevation		below 300 m (below 1000 ft)
Distribution	AZ; CA; NV; South America; Mexico (Baja Calif); South Africa; Atlantic Islands [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	AZ; CA; NV; South America; Mexico (Baja California); South Africa; Atlantic Islands [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source	FNA vol. 22, p. 237.	FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa	Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Juncus	Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Juncus > Juncus acutus
Sibling taxa	J. acuminatus, J. acutiflorus, J. alpinoarticulatus, J. anthelatus, J. arcticus, J. articulatus, J. biglumis, J. bolanderi, J. brachycarpus, J. brachycephalus, J. brachyphyllus, J. brevicaudatus, J. bryoides, J. bufonius, J. bulbosus, J. caesariensis, J. canadensis, J. capillaris, J. capitatus, J. castaneus, J. chlorocephalus, J. compressus, J. confusus, J. cooperi, J. coriaceus, J. covillei, J. debilis, J. dichotomus, J. diffusissimus, J. drummondii, J. dubius, J. dudleyi, J. effusus, J. elliottii, J. ensifolius, J. falcatus, J. filiformis, J. filipendulus, J. georgianus, J. gerardii, J. greenei, J. gymnocarpus, J. hallii, J. hemiendytus, J. howellii, J. inflexus, J. interior, J. kelloggii, J. leiospermus, J. lesueurii, J. longistylis, J. luciensis, J. macrandrus, J. macrophyllus, J. marginatus, J. maritimus, J. megacephalus, J. mertensianus, J. militaris, J. nevadensis, J. nodatus, J. nodosus, J. occidentalis, J. orthophyllus, J. oxymeris, J. parryi, J. patens, J. pelocarpus, J. pervetus, J. phaeocephalus, J. polycephalus, J. regelii, J. repens, J. roemerianus, J. scirpoides, J. secundus, J. squarrosus, J. stygius, J. subcaudatus, J. subtilis, J. supiniformis, J. tenuis, J. texanus, J. textilis, J. tiehmii, J. torreyi, J. trifidus, J. triformis, J. triglumis, J. trigonocarpus, J. uncialis, J. validus, J. vaseyi, J. xiphioides
Subordinate taxa	J. acutus subsp. leopoldii
Synonyms		J. leopoldii, J. acutus var. sphaerocarpus, J. acutus var. sphaerocarpus, J. robusta
Name authority	Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 325. (1753)	(Parlatore) Snogerup: Bot. Not. 131: 187. (1978)
Web links	Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Juncus acutus

Juncus acutus subsp. leopoldii

sharp rush, spiny rush

leopold's rush, sharp rush, wire grass

Habit

Herbs, perennial, robust, tufted, often forming clumps to 1 m diam., 6–12 dm.

Culms

3–4 mm diam.

Cataphylls

1–2.

Leaves

basal, 2–4;

sheaths brownish, inflated;

auricles absent or prolonged 1–3 mm, cartilaginous;

blade terete, 30–100 dcm × 2–3 mm.

Inflorescences

sympodial or appearing lateral, glomerules numerous, each with 2–5 flowers, branches unequal, 5–20 cm;

primary bract inflated, usually shorter than inflorescence.

Flowers

tepals straw-colored, brown-tipped, 2–4 mm;

outer tepals widely lanceolate, margins scarious, apex obtuse to acutish;

inner tepals rounded, shorter;

stamens 6, filaments 0.2–0.4 mm, anthers 1.2–1.8 mm;

style 1–1.2 mm.

Capsules

yellow-brown, pseudo-3-locular, nearly globose, 3.5–5 × 2.4–3.3 mm, obviously exceeding perianth, mucronate.

Seeds

brownish, obliquely obovoid, body 0.6–0.7 mm, tails 0.2–0.3 mm.

Juncus acutus

Juncus acutus subsp. leopoldii

Phenology

Flowering and fruiting late spring–summer.

Habitat

Moist saline habitats and alkaline seeps

Elevation

below 300 m (below 1000 ft)

Distribution

AZ; CA; NV; South America; Mexico (Baja Calif); South Africa; Atlantic Islands

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

AZ; CA; NV; South America; Mexico (Baja California); South Africa; Atlantic Islands

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source

FNA vol. 22, p. 237.

FNA vol. 22.

Parent taxa

Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Juncus

Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Juncus > Juncus acutus

Sibling taxa

J. acuminatus, J. acutiflorus, J. alpinoarticulatus, J. anthelatus, J. arcticus, J. articulatus, J. biglumis, J. bolanderi, J. brachycarpus, J. brachycephalus, J. brachyphyllus, J. brevicaudatus, J. bryoides, J. bufonius, J. bulbosus, J. caesariensis, J. canadensis, J. capillaris, J. capitatus, J. castaneus, J. chlorocephalus, J. compressus, J. confusus, J. cooperi, J. coriaceus, J. covillei, J. debilis, J. dichotomus, J. diffusissimus, J. drummondii, J. dubius, J. dudleyi, J. effusus, J. elliottii, J. ensifolius, J. falcatus, J. filiformis, J. filipendulus, J. georgianus, J. gerardii, J. greenei, J. gymnocarpus, J. hallii, J. hemiendytus, J. howellii, J. inflexus, J. interior, J. kelloggii, J. leiospermus, J. lesueurii, J. longistylis, J. luciensis, J. macrandrus, J. macrophyllus, J. marginatus, J. maritimus, J. megacephalus, J. mertensianus, J. militaris, J. nevadensis, J. nodatus, J. nodosus, J. occidentalis, J. orthophyllus, J. oxymeris, J. parryi, J. patens, J. pelocarpus, J. pervetus, J. phaeocephalus, J. polycephalus, J. regelii, J. repens, J. roemerianus, J. scirpoides, J. secundus, J. squarrosus, J. stygius, J. subcaudatus, J. subtilis, J. supiniformis, J. tenuis, J. texanus, J. textilis, J. tiehmii, J. torreyi, J. trifidus, J. triformis, J. triglumis, J. trigonocarpus, J. uncialis, J. validus, J. vaseyi, J. xiphioides

Subordinate taxa

J. acutus subsp. leopoldii

Synonyms

J. leopoldii, J. acutus var. sphaerocarpus, J. acutus var. sphaerocarpus, J. robusta

Name authority

Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 325. (1753)

(Parlatore) Snogerup: Bot. Not. 131: 187. (1978)

Web links

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

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Flora of North America species comparison

Juncus acutus

Juncus acutus subsp. leopoldii

Juncus acutus

Juncus acutus subsp. leopoldii