396 JUNCACEAE. 



Juncus diffusissimus Buckley. Diffuse Rush. (Fig. 958.) 



Juncus diffusissimus Buckley, Proc. Acad. Phila. 1862: 

 9. 1862. 



Plant i-2 high. Steins few in a tuft, from a 

 short-branched inconspicuous rootstock, erect, slen- 

 der, terete or slightly compressed, 2-4-leaved ; blades 

 4 / -8 / long, %"-W thick; inflorescence diffusely 

 branched, widely spreading, 4 / -S / high and broad, 

 its lowest bract with a blade either obsolete or some- 

 times nearly as long as the panicle; heads 3~i2-flow- 

 ered; perianth i^"-!^" long, its parts subulate, 

 equal; stamens half to two-thirds as long as the 

 perianth; anthers shorter than the filaments; cap- 

 sule narrowly linear-lanceolate in outline, 2 // -2^ // 

 long, acute to obtuse at the apex, with a short tip, 

 3-sided, light brown, i-celled; seed oblong to ob- 

 ovoid, i // ~X // long, acute at the base, abruptly 

 tipped, reticulate in about 16 rows, finely cross-lined. 



Southeastern Kansas to Mississippi and Texas. 



2. JUNCOIDES Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 47. 1763. 



[Lczi-LA DC. Fl. Fr. 3: 158. 1805.] 



Perennial plants, with herbage either glabrous or sparingly webbed, stems leaf-bearing, 

 leaf-sheaths with united margins, and leaf-blades grass-like. Inflorescence umbelloid, pan- 

 iculate, or corymbose, often congested; flowers always bracteolate, the bractlets usually 

 lacerate or denticulate; stamens 6 in our species; ovary i-celled, its 3 ovules with basal in- 

 sertion; seeds 3, indistinctly reticulate, sometimes carunculate at base or apex, but not 

 distinctly tailed. [Greek, meaning like Juncns.~\ 



About 40 species, widely distributed, mostly flowering in spring. 



Inflorescence umbelloid, i or 2 flowers on each of its branches. i. J. pilosum. 



Inflorescence theoretically paniculate, the flowers often crowded in spikelike clusters. 



Outer perianth-parts shorter than the'inner; introduced species. 2. J. nemorosum. 



Perianth-parts equal or nearly so; native species. 



Flowers 1-3 together, on the branches of an open panicle. 3. J. parviflorum. 



Flowers crowded into one or more thick spikes or spike-like clusters. 



Inflorescence nodding. 4. J. spicatiim. 



Inflorescence erect or spreading, or its individual branches rarely nodding. 



Inflorescence of 1-3 spike-like or capitate flower-clusters, or the leaf-blades sharp- 

 pointed. 

 Inflorescence crowded into a single cluster; leaves flat, usually with a blunt 



apex. 5. J. nivale. 



Inflorescence in 1-4 clusters; leaves narrowed above, involute-channeled, apex 

 very sharp. 6. J. hyperboreiim. 



Inflorescence of 2-12 spike -like or capitate clusters; leaf-blades with blunt points. 



7. J. campestre. 



i. Juncoides pilosum (I,.) Kuntze. Hairy Wood-rush. (Fig. 959.) 



Juncus pilosus L. Sp. PI. 329. 1753. 

 Luznla pilosa Willd. Enum. PI. 393. 1809. 

 Juncoides pilosum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 725. 1891. 



Tufted, often somewhat stoloniferous. Stems erect, 

 2-4-leaved, ^-i high; leaf-blades i^"-4" wide, 

 flat, slightly webbed, especially when young, acumin- 

 ate into a blunt almost gland-like point; stem leaves 

 with similar but successively shorter blades; inflores- 

 cence an umbelloid flower-cluster, with a bract 5 // -i2 // 

 high, the filiform pedicels equal or nearly so, i- 

 flo wered or sometimes 2-flowered; perianth i%"-i#" 

 long, its parts triangular-ovate, acuminate, brown 

 with hyaline margins, about twice as long as the 

 toothed bractlets; capsule about one-fourth exceeding 

 the perianth, its valves ovate, acuminate; seed about 

 W long, its body about i" in length, provided at the 

 summit with a conspicuous hooked caruncle. 



Ni-w Hrunswick to Alaska, south to New York, Mich- 

 igan and Orejron, and in the Alleghanies to North Caro- 

 lina. Also in Hurope and Asia. 





