354 



JUNCACEAE 



6. Juncus mexicanus Willd. 

 Mexican Rush. Fig. 860. 



Jiinciis comprcssiis H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 235 



1815, not Jacq. 

 Jiincus )iic.vicanus Willd. in Roem. & Schult. Syst. 7 



178. 1829. 

 Junctis balticus me.ricanits Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 3 



320. 1893. 



Stems from creeping rootstocks, mostly 2-6 

 dm. high, seldom over 2-3 mm. thick, distinctly 

 compressed, longitudinally wrinkled in dried 

 specimens, but not striate. Basal leaf-sheaths 

 brown or stramineous, resembling the stem, 10 

 cm. or more in length ; lowest leaf of the inflor- 

 escence 3-15 cm. long ; infloresence mostly loosely 

 5-many-fiowered, 2-6 cm. high ; perianth 5 mm. 

 long, pale brown, the segments lanceolate, acu- 

 minate, with broad scarious margins, the inner 

 about equalling the outer ; stamens a little over 

 half the length of the segments ; anthers much 

 longer than filaments ; capsule equalling the peri- 

 anth, narrowly ovoid, conspicuously mucronate, 

 brown, 3-celled; seeds 0.7-0.8 mm. long, irregu- 

 larly reticulate, the meshes longer than broad. 



Moist ground especially in slightly saline soils. 

 Upper and Lower Sonoran Zones; San Joaquin Valley, 

 and Monterey County southward to Lower California 

 and Mexico. Aphyllous forms are often confused with 

 /. balticus. Type locality: Mexico. 



7. Juncus balticus AA'illcl. 

 Baltic Rush. Fig. 861. 



Juncus balticus Willd. Berlin Mag. 3: 298. 1809. 



Stems arising at intervals from creeping root- 

 stocks, 2-8 dm. high, 2-3 mm. thick. Basal leaf- 

 sheaths bladeless, the uppermost with or without a 

 slender mucronation ; lowest leaf of inflorescence 3-20 

 cm. long ; panicle commonly 25-60 mm. high ; perianth 

 4-5 mm. long, the segments lanceolate, acuminate, 

 or the inner acute, nearly equal, usually purplish 

 brown ; stamens about two-thirds the length of the 

 segments ; anthers much longer than the filaments ; 

 capsule about equalling the perianth, narrowly ovoid, 

 conspicuously mucronate, pale or dark brown ; seeds 

 0.8-1 mm. long oblong to narrowly obovoid, oblique, 

 about 40-striate. 



Moist places. Boreal and Austral regions: Alaska to 

 Labrador south to southern California, New Mexico, and 

 Pennsylvania. Also Europe and Asia. A variable species 

 segregated into several varieties by some authors. Type local- 

 ity: Europe. 



8. Juncus lescurii Boland. 

 Salt Rush. Fig. 862. 



J uncus lescurii Boland. Proc. Calif. Acad. 2: 179. 1862. 

 Juncus balticus pacificus Englem. Trans. St. Louis Acad. 

 2: 442. 1866. 



Stems usually stout soft and smooth, 3-10 dm. 

 high, 1.5-3 nun. thick, arising at intervals from stout 

 creeping rootstocks. Basal leaf-sheaths bladeless; low- 

 est leaf of inflorescence often as long or nearly as long 

 as the stein, spiny tipped ; panicle usually 3-4-rayed, the 

 rays 2-3 cm. long, many-flowered near the suminit, or 

 much reduced forming a compact head-like inflores- 

 cence ; perianth 5-6 mm. long, the segments lanceolate- 

 acuminate, with the inner acute and a little shorter, 

 dark brown with scarious margins ; stamens about two- 

 thirds the length of segments ; anthers much longer 

 than filaments ; capsule oblong-ovoid, acute not mucro- 

 nate, scarcely equalling the perianth, brown ; seeds 

 ovoid, 0.8 mm. long, finely reticulate, the reticulations 

 much broader than long. 



Borders of salt marshes. Transition and Sonoran Zones, 

 Vancouver Island, south near coast to Monterey County, Cali- 

 fornia. Type locality: salt marshes near San Francisco Bay. 



