52 JUNCACEAE (RUSH FAMILY) 



JUNCACEAE (RUSH FAMILY) 



Annual or perennial, grasslike or rushlike. Inflorescence 

 various. Flowers small, regular, hypogynous, persistent. Sepals 

 3, glumaceous. Petals 3, similar to the sepals. Stamens 6 or 

 rarely 3; anthers introrse. Pistil 3-carpous, either i-celled or 

 3-celled; ovary superior; stigmas 3. Fruit a loculicidal capsule, 

 3-valved. Seeds 3 to many, small. Difficult family. Key 

 only to the genera. (F. & R. pp. 90-94.) 



A. Leaf sheaths open; leaves never hairy, mostly not flat nor grasslike; capsule 

 i-celled or 3-celled, many-seeded; placentae parietal or axial. (L. jungere = 

 to bind; ropes were made by twisting together some species.) Juncus (RUSH) 



AA. Leaf sheaths closed; leaves often with a few large hairs, flat, grasslike; cap- 

 sule i-celled, 3-seeded; placenta basal. (Juncus = a genus of rushes; Gk. 

 eidos = like; hence, rushlike.) Juncoides (WOOD RUSH) 



*KEY DIRECT TO THE GENERA OF MELANTHACEAE, 

 LILIACEAE, AND CONVALLARIACEAE 



A. Leaves not grasslike, either wider or mere scales. 



B. Leaves mere scales; plants very much branched, ultimate branchlets thread- 

 like. Asparagus in CONVALLARIACEAE (p. 62) 

 BB. Leaves not scales; branching not profuse; branches not threadlike. 

 C. Stems scapose or none, or leaves only from near base. 

 D. Leaves only 2 or 3. 



E. Perianth 25-75 rnm. long; perianth segments about equal in width ; 

 stamens 6. Erythronium in LILIACEAE (p. 55) 



EE. Perianth 6-9 mm. long; inner perianth segments narrower than the outer; 

 stamens 3. Scoliopus in CONVALLARIACEAE (p. 62) 



DD. Leaves more than 3. 



F. Plant with bulb, glabrous; leaves 12 or more times as long as wide; fruit a 

 capsule. Camassia in LILIACEAE (p. 55) 



FF. Plant with rhizome, hairy at least on the inflorescence; leaves 3-5 times as 

 long as wide; fruit a berry. Clintonia in CONVALLARIACEAE (p. 62) 



CC. Stems leafy, not merely so at base. 

 G. Petals very unlike the sepals in form or size or color. 

 H. Leaves 3 in a whorl at the top of the stem, ovate or wider. 



Trillium in CONVALLARIACEAE (p. 62) 

 HH. Leaves more than 3, not in a whorl, lanceolate or narrower. 



Calochortus in LILIACEAE (p. 55) 

 GG. Petals and sepals alike or very nearly so. 



I. Flowers not white, or if so 42 mm. long or longer. JJ in LILIACEAE (p. 56) 



II. Flowers greenish white, 2-23 mm. long. 



* These families are so poorly distinguished that it is easier to trace most of the 

 genera direct. However, there is also a key to the genera under each family. 



