GENUS i. 



RUSH FAMILY. 



43. Juncus brevicaudatus (Engelm.) Fer- 

 nald. Xarrcnv-panicled Rush. Fig. 1208. 



7. canadensis brevicaudatus Engelm. Trans. St. Louis 

 Acad. 2 : 436. 1866. 



7. canadensis coarctatus Engelm. loc. cit. 474. 1868. 

 J. brevicaudatus Fernald, Rhodora 6: 35. 1904. 



Plant 6'-2j high, slender, tufted, the rootstocks 

 short. Leaf-blades less than i" thick; inflorescence 

 I '-6' long, with few or several 2-/-llowered heads 

 on ascending branches; perianth a little more than 

 i" long, its parts subulate-lanceolate, acute, or the 

 inner obtusish, somewhat shorter than the outer or 

 nearly equal ; capsule dark brown, narrowly oblong, 

 acute, longer than the perianth; tails of the seed 

 about half as long as the body. 



Wet ground, Newfoundland to Minnesota, New York, 

 West Virginia and Michigan. 



44. Juncus acuminatus Alichx. Sharp- 

 fruited Rush. Fig. 1209. 



/ itncns acuminatus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. I :.ig2. 1803. 



Plant io'-3 high ; rootstock short and incon- 

 spicuous. Stems few or several in a tuft, erect, 

 i-3-leaved ; blades of the lower leaves 4'-8' long, 

 i"-i" thick, the upper shorter; inflorescence 

 2'-6' high, and with 5-50 heads, rarely larger, 

 or reduced even to a single head, its branches 

 usually spreading; heads top-shaped, hemispheric 

 or subspheric, 3-2O-flowered ; perianth ii"-ij" 

 long, its parts lanceolate-subulate, nearly equal; 

 stamens 3, about one-half as long as the perianth; 

 anthers snorter than the filaments ; capsule ovate- 

 lanceolate, broadly acute, mucronate, i-celted, 

 equalling the perianth, light brown at maturity, 

 the valves separating through the apex; seed ob- 

 long, about \" in length, tipped at either end, 

 reticulate in 16-20 longitudinal rows, the areolae 

 transversely many-lined. 



Maine to southern Ontario and Minnesota, south 

 to Georgia and Mexico. Also on the northwest 

 coast. Heads often proliferous. Knotty-leaved 

 rush. 



45. Juncus debilis A. Gray. Weak Rush. 

 Fig. 1210. 



Juncus debilis A. Gray, Man. 506. 1848. 

 7. acuminatus debilis Engelm. Trans. St. Louis Acad. 2: 

 463. 1868. 



Plants 8'-i6' high or sometimes with longer weak 

 procumbent stems, often densely tufted. Leaves 

 with blades usually less than half the length of_ the 

 plant, more or less flattened in age or in drying; 

 panicle with ascending or diffuse branches; heads 

 mostly 2-6-flowered ; perianth about i" long, its parts 

 narrowly lanceolate the inner broader at the base 

 and less concave; stamens much over half as long 

 as the perianth; capsules linear-lanceolate in outline, 

 about one-third exceeding the perianth. 



In wet places and sandy shores, Rhode Island to Mis- 

 souri, Florida, Mississippi and Arkansas. 



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