47 



JUNCACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



10. Juncus Gerardi Lois. Black-grass. Fig. 1175. 



Juncus Gerardi Lois. Journ. de Bot. 2: 284. 1809. 



Tufted, 8'-28' high, with creeping roqtstocks. Basal 

 leaves with rather loosely clasping auriculate sheaths, 

 the long blades flat, or when dry involute; i or 2 

 cauline leaves usually present, similar to the basal; 

 inflorescence sometimes exceeded by its lowest bract ; 

 panicle erect, strict or slightly spreading; perianth i"- 

 li" long, its parts oblong, obtuse, with green midrib 

 and broad dark brown margins, straw-colored in age ; 

 stamens 6, barely exceeded by the perianth ; anthers 

 much longer than the filaments; capsule one-fourth to 

 one-half longer than the perianth, obovoid, mucronate, 

 dark brown, shining, 3-celled ; seed dark brown, obovate, 

 acute at base, obtuse and often depressed at the sum- 

 mit, marked by 12-16 conspicuous ribs, the intervening 

 spaces cross-lined. 



On salt meadows, Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida ; rare 

 .inland to western New York and the vicinity of the Great 

 Lakes. Occurs also on the northwest coast, and in Europe. 



Juncus compressus Jacq., a similar European species, 

 but glaucous and with filaments nearly as long as the 

 anthers, has been found in Quebec. 



ii. Juncus Dudley! Wiegand. Dudley's 

 Rush. Fig. 1176. 



J. Dudleyi Wiegand, Bull. Torr. Club 27: 524. 1900. 



Plants i-4 high, pale green. Leaves basal; 

 blades about half the length of the scapes or less, 

 very narrowly linear but flat, frequently somewhat 

 involute ; scapes tufted, often relatively stout but 

 wiry, striate-grooved : inflorescence i'-2 r high, or 

 rarely slightly larger, usually rather congested, con- 

 siderably exceeded by its bract, few-flowered ; peri- 

 anth green or pale straw-colored, 2"-2|" long, its 

 parts firm, nearly equal, lanceolate-subulate, acute, 

 more or less spreading, scarious-margined ; stamens 

 about half as long as the perianth; anthers slightly 

 shorter than the filaments ; capsules ovoid-oval, f-S 

 the length of the perianth, somewhat apiculate : 

 seed oblong, \"-\" long, apiculate at each end. 



In damp soil and open places, Quebec and Maine to 

 Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Washington. 

 Virginia, Tennessee and Mexico. 



12. Juncus tenuis Willd. Slender Rush. Yard 

 Rush. Fig. 1177. 



Juncus tenuis Willd. Sp. PI. 2: 214. 1799. 

 Juncus monostichus Bartlett, Rhodora 7: 50. 1905. 

 (?)J. dichotomus platyphyllus Wiegand, Bull. Torr. Club 

 30: 448. 1903. 



Tufted, 2'-3o' high; basal leaves with blades J"-l" 

 wide, sometimes involute in drying, about half the 

 height of the stem ; the sheaths usually with broad 

 scarious margins; inflorescence usually much exceeded 

 by its lowest leaf, 4' high or less, the flowers rarely 

 secund; perianth if"-2i" long, its parts lanceolate, 

 acuminate, exceeding the capsule, widely divergent, 

 touching the capsule for about half their length; 

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

 shorter than the filaments ; capsule oblong to obovoid, 

 rounded at the top, imperfectly 3-celled; seed $"-i" 

 long, narrowly oblong to obovoid, with oblique ends, 

 reticulated in about 16 rows, the areolae two or three 

 times broader than long. 



In dry or moist soil, especially on paths, almost throughout North America, now migrating to all 

 parts of the world. Wire-grass. Poverty-grass. 



