JUNCACEAE 
RUSH FAMILY 
COMMON RUSH. BASKET RUSH 
Juncus effusus L. 
The Rushes are a family of some 300 Grasslike per- 
ennial herbs, 21 species of which are found in Illinois. 
They prefer wet or moist localities where they commonly 
grow in tufts. The leaves are either 
flattened or cylindrical, and in the 
latter case a large section of the family 
has hollow leaves with crosswise par- 
titions at frequent intervals, making the 
leaves seem nodular. 
The inflorescence is commonly pani- 
culate or cymose, and may be terminal 
or lateral. Each flower consists of a 
6-parted, green or brownish perianth, 
3 or 6 stamens, and 1 pistil which 
fruits as a many-seeded capsule. The 
seeds are usually ribbed or covered 
with a network of ridges. 
The Common Rush is truly cosmopoli- 
tan as it lives wherever there is marshy 
ground, nearly throughout North America 
and in Europe and Asia. The soft stem, 
1%4-4 feet high, bears a diffusely branch- 
ing, cymose inflorescence. The rootstock 
is stout and branching. This is the Rush 
that in olden time was extensively used 
for mats, brushes and brooms, thatch 
roofs and all kinds of fiber work. 
ME 
The parts of the green perianth are lanceolate and 
acuminate. The anthers of the 3 stamens are a little shorter 
than the filaments. The style is short. Many small seeds with 
short pale points are contained in the 3-celled, narrow, point- 
less and greenish brown capsule that is regularly dehiscent. The 
seed is very small, less than one thirty-secondth of an inch long, 
but is interesting in that examination under a lens will disclose 
a network of ridges in about 16 longitudinal rows. 
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