WIRE RUSH 



Jun'cus bal'ticus 



GL14 

 (2 leaves) 



Flowers small (less than K in. long), 

 each 2-bracted and slender-stalked, 

 numerous, borne in a flattened, loose, 

 branched side cluster (panicle) up to 

 2% in. long, the erect, green bract at 

 its base appearing like a prolongation 

 of the stem beyond the cluster 



Bractlike flower parts (perianth) in 

 2 series of 3 each, similar, lance- 

 shaped, sharp-pointed, usually pur- 

 plish brown with green, midrib and 

 white, papery margins 



Stamens 6, shorter than perianth; 

 pollen sacs (anthers) longer than their 

 stalks (filaments) 



Seed pod (capsule) about as long as 

 persistent perianth, pale to dark brown, 

 narrowly egg-shaped, conspicuously 

 and abruptly -sharp-pointed at tip, 

 3-celled, many-seeded, splitting when 

 ripe 



\ 



Stems usually 8 to 32 (sometimes up 

 to 42) in. high, smooth, dark green, 

 leafless, round, soft-pithy inside 



Leaves basal, reduced to bladeless 

 sheaths 



Rootstock stout, perennial, long- (of- 

 ten several ft.) creeping, giving rise to 

 stems at intervals along its length 



Roots fibrous, numerous 



