366 



JUNCACEAE 



42. Juncus acuminatus Michx. 

 Sharp-fruited Rush. 



Fig. 896. 



Jiiiicus acinninatiis Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 192. 1803. 



Stems tufted, 3-10 dm. high, from short and 

 inconspicuous rootstocks. Leaves 1-3 on a stem, 

 the hiades of the lower 10-20 cm. long, 1-2 mm. 

 thick, the upper shorter ; panicle 5-15 cm. long, 

 with 5-50 heads or sometimes reduced to a single 

 head, its branches usually spreading ; heads top- 

 shaped to subspheric, 3-2C)-flowered ; perianth 

 2.5-3.5 mm. long, the segments lanceolate-subulate, 

 nearly- equal ; stamens 3, about half or as long as 

 the perianth ; anthers shorter than the filaments ; 

 capsule ovate-lanceolate, broadly acute, mucro- 

 nate, equalling the perianth, light brown ; seeds 

 oblong, apiculate at each end, reticulate with 

 16-20 longitudinal rows, the areolae transversely 

 many-lined. 



Stream banks and swamps. Transition Zone; British 

 Columbia to Oregon, east to Maine and Georgia. Type 

 locality: South Carolina. 



43. Juncus torreyi Coville. 

 Torrey's Rush. Fig. 897. 



Jitnctis iiodosus megacephalus Torr. Fl. N. Y. 2: 326. 1843. 



Jniicus megacephalus Wood, Bot. ed. 2, 724. 1861, not Curtis, 



1835. 



Juncus torreyi Coville, Bull Torrey Club 22: 303. 1895. 



Stems arising singly from tuberiform thickenings on 

 the slender rootstock, stout, 2-5 dm. high. Leaves 1-4 

 on the stem, the blades abruptly divergent from the 

 stem, stout, terete, 2-5 mm. thick ; panicle congested, 

 consisting of 1-20 heads, exceeded by its lowest bract ; 

 heads 10-15 mm. in diameter; perianth 4—5 mm. long, 

 the segments subulate, the outer longer than the inner ; 

 stamens 6, about half as long as the perianth ; capsule 

 subulate, 3-sided, 1-celled, the beak 1-1.5 mm. long, 

 exceeding the perianth and holding the valves together 

 throughout dehiscence ; seed oblong, acute at both ends, 

 reticulate in about 20 longitudinal rows, the areolae 

 finely cross-lined. 



Wet soil, Transition and Upper Sonoran Zones; Washington 

 to southern California, east to Massachusetts, Texas and Ala- 

 bama. In the Pacific States it is east of the Cascade-Sierra 

 Nevada divide, except in southern California. Type locality: on 

 the shores of Lake Ontario. 



44. Juncus nodosus L. 

 Knotted Rush. Fig. 898. 



Juncus uodosus L. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 466. 1762. 



Stems 15-60 cm. high, arising singly from tuber-like 

 tliickenings of a slender, nearly scaleless rootstock. 

 Basal leaves with long erect blades, stem leaves 2-4, 

 their blades erect, the upper exceeding the inflores- 

 cence ; panicle shorter than its lowest bract, seldom 

 exceeding 5 or 6 cm., bearing 1-30 heads ; heads 

 spherical, several-many-flowered, 7-12 mm. in diam- 

 eter ; perianth 3.5 mm. long, usually reddish brown 

 above; segments lanceolate-subulate, the outer shorter 

 tlian the inner ; stamens 6, about half as long as the 

 perianth ; anthers equalling the filaments ; capsule lan- 

 ceolate-subulate, 3-sided, 1-celled, exceeding the peri- 

 anth ; seed oblong, acute below, apiculate above, retic- 

 ulate in 20-30 longitudinal rows, the areolae finely 

 cross-lined. 



Wet places. Transition Zone; British Columbia south, east 

 of the Cascade Mountains, to Nevada, and east to Nova 

 Scotia and Virginia. Type locality : eastern North America. 



