Flora of North America species comparison

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Juncus covillei

Juncus nevadensis

Coville's rush

Nevada rush, Sierra rush
Habit Herbs, perennial, strongly rhizomatous, 0.5–2.5 dm. Herbs, perennial, rhizomatous, 0.5–7 dm.
Rhizomes

1 mm diam., not swollen.
Culms

erect, slightly flattened.

erect, terete, 1.5–3 mm diam., smooth.
Cataphylls

0–1, maroon or straw-colored, apex acute.
Leaves

basal 2–5, cauline 2–4;

auricles absent or, if present, 0.5–1.5 mm, apex acute;

blade flat, 5–15 cm × 2–3 mm.

basal 1–3, cauline 1–2;

auricles 1–3.2 mm, apex rounded to acute, membranaceous;

blade green, laterally flattened, 1.5–31 cm × 0.5–2.2 mm.
Inflorescences

glomerules, 1–6, each with 3–7 flowers, open to aggregate, 2–6 cm;

primary bract or distal leaves usually exceeding inflorescences.

terminal panicles of 2–11 heads, 2–18 cm, branches erect to spreading;

primary bract erect;

heads 3–11-flowered, hemispheric to obpyramidal (rarely nearly spheric), 5–14 mm diam.
Flowers

tepals usually brown, ovate-oblong, 3–4 mm, margins scarious;

inner series slightly shorter, minutely papillate;

stamens 6, filaments 0.8–1.4 mm, anthers 0.8–1.4 mm;

style 1 mm.

tepals dark brown to white, lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, mucro subulate;

outer tepals 2.8–6.2 mm;

inner tepals 2.4–6 mm;

stamens 6, anthers 1–2 times filament length.
Capsules

3-locular, narrowly ovoid, 4–5 mm.

included to slightly exserted, chestnut brown, ellipsoid, 2.3–3.7 mm, abruptly contracted to apex, apex acute proximal to beak, valves separating at dehiscence.
Seeds

narrowly ovoid, 0.3 mm, not tailed.

ellipsoid, 0.4–0.5 mm, not tailed.

Juncus covillei

Juncus nevadensis
Phenology Fruiting early summer–fall.
Habitat Wet banks along margins of streams and lakes, marshes, bogs, sloughs, and wet or boggy prairies
Elevation 0–2600 m (0–8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC; Coastal to montane areas
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

This variable species has been divided into five separate taxa in the past (F. J. Hermann 1964; C. L. Hitchcock et al. 1955–1969, vol. 1), but more recently, most of the variants have not been separated (A. Cronquist et al. 1972+, vol. 6). The Oregon coastal endemic, Juncus nevadensis var. inventus L. F. Henderson) C. L. Hitchcock, is at one extreme of the variation, having only a single head, fairly dark brown tepals 3.5–4.5 mm, anthers only slightly longer than the filaments, and a distinct habitat. The J. mertensianus var. columbianus segregate, however, approaches var. inventus in number of heads, and the other characters are so highly variable in the complex, they cannot be used alone to separate this variety. Therefore, we are not recognizing any infraspecific taxa at this time.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Perianth dark brown, apex of inner series rounded; capsule dark brown, 1 mm longer than perianth
var. covillei
1. Perianth pale brown, apex of inner series acute to obtuse; capsule pale brown, barely exceeding perianth
var. obtusatus
Source FNA vol. 22. FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Graminifolii Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Septati
Sibling taxa
J. acuminatus, J. acutiflorus, J. acutus, 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. 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
J. acuminatus, J. acutiflorus, J. acutus, 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. 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. covillei var. covillei, J. covillei var. obtusatus
Synonyms J. falcatus var. paniculatus J. badius, J. columbianus, J. mertensianuss subsp. gracilis, J. mertensianus var. badius, J. mertensianus var. columbianus, J. mertensianus var. gracilis, J. mertensianus var. suksdorfii, J. nevadensis var. badius, J. nevadensis var. columbianus, J. nevadensis var. inventus, J. phaeocephalus var. gracilis, J. suksdorfii, J. truncatus
Name authority Piper: Contributions from the U. S. National Herbarium 11: 182. (1906) S. Watson: Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 14: 303. (1879)
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).



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