Juncus brachycephalus |
Juncus polycephalus |
|
---|---|---|
small-head rush |
flatleaf rush, manyhead rush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, cespitose, 2–7 dm. | Herbs, perennial, cespitose, 6–10 dm. |
Culms | erect, 1–4 mm diam., smooth. |
erect, 3–14 mm diam. |
Cataphylls | 1–2, straw-colored to pink, apex acute. |
absent. |
Leaves | basal 1–3, cauline 1–2; auricles 0.6–1.5 mm, apex rounded, scarious; blade terete to compressed, 0.2–12 cm × 0.5–2 mm. |
basal 2–3(–6), cauline 1–4, brownish green; auricles absent; blade 8–70 cm × 4–8 mm. |
Inflorescences | panicles of 5–80 heads, 5–25 cm, branches ascending; primary bract erect; heads 2–6-flowered, ellipsoid to obovoid, 2–5 mm diam. |
panicles of 16–82 heads, 10–30 cm; primary bract erect; heads 20–30-flowered, spheric, 8–12 mm diam. |
Flowers | tepals green to light brown, lanceolate; outer tepals 1.8–2.5 mm, apex obtuse to nearly acute; inner tepals 2–2.8 mm, apex obtuse to nearly acute; stamens 3 or 6, anthers 1/2 filament length. |
tepals green to reddish, lance-subulate, 3–4 mm, nearly equal, apex acuminate; stamens 3, anthers 1/3–1/2 length of filaments. |
Capsules | exserted, chestnut to dark brown, imperfectly 3-locular, obconic, 2.4–3.8 mm, apex acute proximal to beak, valves separating at dehiscence. |
exserted, straw-colored, 1-locular, narrowly ovoid, 4–5 mm, apex tapering to beak, remaining after dehiscence. |
Seeds | ellipsoid to fusiform, 0.8–1.2 mm, tailed; body covered with whitish translucent veil. |
lance-ellipsoid, 0.5–0.6 mm, not tailed. |
2n | = 80. |
|
Juncus brachycephalus |
Juncus polycephalus |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–early fall. | Fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Calcareous marshes, wet meadows, and wetland shores | Wet or seasonally wet shores, depressions, occasionally in fairly deep water of streams, usually with a peaty or mucky substrate, occasionally sandy to gravelly |
Elevation | 100–200 m (300–700 ft) | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; CO; CT; GA; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MN; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; QC;
|
AL; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; SC; TX
|
Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Septati | Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Ensifolii |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | J. canadensis var. brachycephalus | J. echinatus, J. engelmannii |
Name authority | (Engelmann) Buchenau: Botanische Jahrbucher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 12: 268. (1890) | Michaux: Flora Boreali-Americana 1: 192. 1803 (as polycephalos) |
Web links |