Juncus tenuis |
Juncaceae |
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path rush, poverty or slender rush, poverty rush, slender rush |
rush family |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, tufted, 1.5–5 dm. | Herbs, perennial, occasionally annual, usually rhizomatous, orsometimes cespitose. |
Rhizomes | densely branching. |
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Culms | few–20. |
round or flat. |
Leaves | basal, (1–)2–3; auricles 2–5 mm, apex acute, membranous; blade flat, 3–12 cm × 0.5–1 mm, margins entire. |
mostly basal; sheath margins fused or overlapping, often with 2 earlike extensions (auricles) at blade junction; blade flat or round, glabrous or margins hairy. |
Inflorescences | 5–40-flowered, borne congested or branch internodes ca. as long as tepals, ssomewhat loose, 1–5 cm; primary bract usually longer than inflorescence. |
of headlike clusters or single flowers variously arranged; bracts subtending inflorescence 1 or more2, mostly leaflike; bracts subtending inflorescence branches 1–2, reduced; bracteoles subtending solitary flower 0–2, translucent, reduced. |
Flowers | bracteoles 2; tepals greenish, lanceolate, 3.3–4.4 mm; outer and inner series nearly equal; stamens 6, filaments 0.5–0.9 mm, anthers 0.1–0.2 mm; style 0.1–0.2 mm. |
usually bisexual, radially symmetric; sepals and petals similar, persistent, green to brown or purplish black; stamens usually 3 or 6; anthers persistent, linear; pistils 1; ovaries superior, locules 1 or 3, placentas 1 and basal or 3 and axile or parietal; stigmas generally longer than styles. |
Fruits | capsules, loculicidal. |
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Capsules | tan or light brown, 1-locular to pseudo-3-locular, ellipsoid, (3.3–)3.8–4.7 × (1.1–)1.3–1.7 mm, nearly equal to tepals. |
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Seeds | tan, ellipsoid to lunate, (0.52–)5.5–0.65(–0.7) mm, not tailed. |
3–many, often with white appendages on 1 or both ends. |
2n | = 80. |
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Juncus tenuis |
Juncaceae |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–early summer. | |
Habitat | Exposed or shaded sites in soils ranging from sandy to clayey under moist or drier conditions, oftentimes these sites naturally or otherwise disturbed (e.g., game or human trails) | |
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; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK [Introduced worldwide]
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Arctic and temperate regions; tropical mountains |
Discussion | Juncus tenuis occurs throughout North America. It is particularly abundant in northeastern United States and eastern Canada, although infrequent in the south and west. Through the use of isozyme electrophoresis, hybridization can be demonstrated between various members of the Juncus tenuis complex, including Juncus tenuis, J. anthelatus, J. interior, J. secundus, and J. dichotomus (R. E. Brooks, unpubl.). Juncus ××oronensis is thought to be a hybrid between J. tenuis and J. vaseyi in the northeast. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Genera 9, species ca. 350 (2 genera, 1108 species in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Key | ||
Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22, p. 211. |
Parent taxa | Juncaceae > Juncus > subg. Poiophylli | |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | J. bicornis, J. bicornis var. williamsii, J. macer, J. macer, J. macer var. williamsii, J. tenuis var. bicornis, J. tenuis var. multicornis, J. tenuis var. williamsii | |
Name authority | Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 2(1): 214. (1799) | A. L. Jussieu |
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