Juncus bufonius |
Juncus supiniformis |
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common toad rush, toad rush |
hair-leaf rush, hairy-leaf rush, spreading rush |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, cespitose, 0.5–4 dm. | Herbs, perennial, cespitose or matted, often decumbent, rooting at proximal nodes or floating, 0.3–5 dm. |
Culms | 1–many, occasionally becoming decumbent. |
erect, decumbent and rooting at nodes, or floating, terete, 1–2 mm diam., smooth. |
Cataphylls | 0–2. |
0 or 1–2, straw-colored, apex acute. |
Leaves | basal and cauline; auricles rudimentary or absent; blade flat, 3–13 cm × 0.3–1.1 mm. |
basal 1–3, cauline 1–4; auricles 0.8–2.1 mm, apex rounded to acute, membranaceous; blade terete, 3.7–15 cm × 0.4–1.3 mm, occasionally with filiform, flaccid, and floating leaves to 60 cm. |
Inflorescences | loose and diffuse or less often compact, usually at least ½1/2 total height of plant; primary bract shorter than inflorescence. |
terminal racemes of 2–9 heads, 2–10 cm, branches erect; primary bract erect; heads 2–12-flowered, obconic or rarely hemispheric, 4–13 mm diam. |
Flowers | bracteoles 2; tepals greenish, lanceolate, 3.8–7(–8.5) mm; inner series slightly shorter, apex sometimes obtuse; stamens 3–6, filaments (0.7–)1–1.8 mm, anthers 0.3–0.8 mm; style 0.1–0.2 mm. |
tepals light brown or greenish to reddish brown, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate-subulate; outer tepals (2.1–)2.8–4.9 mm; inner tepals (2.1–)2.8–5.5 mm; stamens 3 or 6, anthers 1/2–3/4 filament length. |
Capsules | tan to reddish brown, 3-locular, ellipsoid to narrowly so, slightly truncate, 2.7–4 × 1–1.5 mm, sometimes exceeding inner tepals but usually not outer series. |
usually exserted, dark brown, 1-locular, ovoid to oblong, (3.2–)3.5–6.1 mm, apex acute to acuminate proximal to beak, valves separating at dehiscence. |
Seeds | yellowish, widely ellipsoid to ovoid, 0.26–0.49, not tailed. |
narrowly obovoid to obovoid, 0.6–0.7 mm, not tailed; body clear yellow-brown.. |
n | = ca. 30, ca. 50–60, 2n = ca. 112. |
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2n | = 27–37, 58–81, 108–115. |
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Juncus bufonius |
Juncus supiniformis |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–early fall. | Fruiting mid summer–fall. |
Habitat | Moist soils in meadows, along lakeshores or stream banks, ditches, or roadsides, especially frequent in drawdown areas, usually in open sites and often becoming weedy | Pond, lake and river shores, marshes, bogs, and ditches |
Elevation | 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft) | |
Distribution |
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; nearly worldwide
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AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | Nearly worldwide, Juncus bufonius is found essentially throughout North America except north of the Alaskan and Canadian tTaiga. Juncus bufonius is a highly polymorphic complex that is poorly understood systematically. Insufficient evidence exists upon which to base the segregation of the plethora of taxa that have been recognized out of this group in the past. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The northern California and southern Oregon populations (Juncus supiniformis in the strict sense) form long filiform leaves before flowering, are shorter, and have smaller flowers than the northern populations. Except for the filiform leaves, the variation in sizes appears to follow a rough latitudinal cline with the largest plants and largest flowers in Alaska. Flowers of Juncus supiniformis often form bulbils. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Poiophylli | Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Septati |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | J. bufonius var. congestus, J. bufonius var. halophilus, J. bufonius var. hybridus, J. bufonius var. occidentalis, J. bufonius var. ranarius, J. congestus, J. ranarius | J. oreganus, J. paucicapitatus |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 328. (1753) | Engelmann |
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