RUSH FAMILY. 
7s brachycarpus Engelm. Trans. St. Louis Acad. 2: 
467. 1868. 
Rootstocks bearing 1-6 stems; stems erect, 8’-36’ 
high, terete, 1-4-leaved; blades terete, 1/’ thick or 
less, seldom exceeding 6’ in length, the upper much 
shorter; inflorescence sometimes 4’ high and with 20 
spherical heads, or smaller and even reduced to a 
single head; perianth 1 14’’-2’’ long, its parts subulate, 
the inner about three-fourths as long as the outer; 
stamens 3, about half as long as the perianth; capsule 
one-half to two-thirds as long as the perianth, oblong, 
acute, mucronate, I-celled, dehiscent through the tip; 
seed oblong, acute at both ends, about 4’ long, reticu- 
late in about 18 longitudinal rows, the areolae smooth 
and nearly square. 
Southern Ontario, through the Mississippi Valley to 
Oklahoma, Texas and Mississippi; also from North Caro- 
lina to Maryland. 
33- Juncus polycéphalus Michx. Many-headed Rush. 
. Juncus brachycarpus Engelm. Short-fruited Rush. 
(Fig. 950. ) 
(Fig. 951.) 
Juncus polycephalus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 192. 1803. 
Juncus scirpoides var. polycephalus Engelm. Trans. 
St. Louis Acad. 2: 468. 1868. 
Juncus Engelmanni Buch. Krit. Verz. Junc. 67. 1880. 
Stem stout, about 3° high, compressed, 2~4- 
leaved. Leaves 20’ in length or less, the upper 
shorter; blades vertically flattened, 114’/—4’’ broad, 
the septa incomplete, or the blades rarely narrower, 
merely compressed, and with complete septa; in- 
florescence 314’-12’ high, its leaves with nearly 
obsolete blades; heads globose, 314’/-5’” in diam- 
eter; perianth 114’/-2’’ long, its parts subulate; 
stamens 3, one-half to three-fourths as long as the 
perianth; anthers shorter than the filaments; cap- 
sule subulate, 1-celled, exceeding the perianth, 
the valves remaining united by the slender beak, 
their margins finally involute; seed narrowly ob- 
long, about %’’ long, acute at each end, with 
nearly straight tips, reticulate in about 12 rows, 
the areolae smooth. 
In swamps, Virginia? to Florida and Texas. 
34. Juncus scirpoides Lam. Scirpus-like Rush. 
Juncus scirpoides Lam. Encycl. Meth. Bot. 3: 267. 1789. 
Juncus scirpoides var. macrostemon Engelm., Trans. St. 
Louis Acad. 2: 467. | 1868. 
Stems 8’-3° high, erect, terete, in clusters from 
short, horizontal rootstocks. Stem leaves 1-3; blades 
terete, 1/” thick or less, usually less than 4’ long, the 
septa perfect; basal leaves similar, but with longer 
blades; inflorescence strict or slightly spreading, 
sometimes 6’ in length; heads 2-30, either simple, 
globose, 3’’—4’’ in diameter in flower, and 4//-5 4’ in 
fruit, or lobed, and of slightly greater diameter; peri- 
anth 144 ’-134’’ long, its parts subulate, the inner 
somewhat shorter; stamens equalling the inner peri- 
anth-parts, the short anthers exserted at the mouth of 
the perianth; capsule subulate, 1-celled, its long beak 
exceeding the perianth; seed oblong, abruptly apicu- 
late at either end, }//-(’’ long, reticulate in 14-20 
longitudinal rows, the areolae smooth. 
New York to Florida and Louisiana. 
