JUNCACEAE. 



6. 



Northern Wood-rush. 



5. Juncoides nivale (Laest. ) Coville. Arctic Wood-rush. 

 \ 



(Fig. 963.) 



Luzitla campestris var. nivalis Laest. Kongl. Vet. Akad. 



Handl. 334. 1822. 

 Juncoides nivale Coville, Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 108. 1894. 



Luzula arctica Bl5-tt, Norg. Fl. i: 299. 1861. 



Stems tufted, 2'-4' high, erect, i or 2-leaved. 

 Leaves with sheaths glabrous at the mouth, their 

 blades i"-2" broad, seldom exceeding \y 2 ' in length, 

 very minutely roughened on the back, at least to- 

 ward the apex, flat and tapering to a usually blunt 

 and callous tip; inflorescence an erect oblong to ovate, 

 spike-like cluster, %' in height or less, exceeding its 

 lowest semifoliaceous bract; bractlet and perianth 

 dark purple, the former ovate and sparingly lacerate 

 at the hyaline apex; perianth-parts ^""-i" in length, 

 narrowly oblong, more or less broadly acute at the 

 paler apex, sometimes denticulate above; capsule 

 subspheric, obtuse or broadly acute, exceeding the 

 perianth; seed narrowly oblong, about >" long. 



Baffin Bay to Alaska. Also 'in arctic and alpine 

 Europe and Asia. 



Juncoides hyperboreum (R. Br. ) Sheldon. 



(Fig. 964.) 



Luzula hvperborea R. Br. Suppl. App. Parry's Voy. 



183. 1821. 

 Juncpdes hyperboreum Sheldon, Bull. Geol. Surv. 



Minn. 9: 63. 1894. 



Stems tufted, commonly 4 / -S / high, erect, 1-2- 

 leaved above the base. Leaves with sheaths spar- 

 ingly ciliate at the mouth, the blades erect, l /z"-i %" 

 wide at the base, commonly 2%'-~' long, usually 

 involute in age, not roughened on the back, taper- 

 ing into a very sharp point; inflorescence erect, ex- 

 ceeding its lowest foliose bract, consisting of a single 

 oblong cluster y z f in length or less, or its one or 

 two lower divisions on peduncles yi f -i%' long; 

 bracts and bractlets membranous, fimbriate; peri- 

 anth-parts brown, paler above, about \ l /i" long, 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, denticulate, or slightly 

 lacerate at the apex; capsule about three-fourths as 

 long as the perianth, ovoid, obtuse; seed rather 

 narrowly oblong, about f " long. 



Arctic America, Labrador and the higher mountains of New England. Europe and Asia. 



7. Juncoides campestre (L,. ) Kuntze. Common Wood-rush. (Fig. 965.) 



Juncus campestris L. Sp. PI. 329. 1753. 

 Luzula campestris DC. Fl. Fr. 3: 161. 1805. 

 Juncoides campestre Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 722. 1891. 



Stems densely tufted, erect, 4'-2o' high, 2-4-leaved. 

 Leaf-blades flat, i // -3>" broad, tapering at the apex 

 to a blunt almost gland-like point, sparingly webbed 

 when young; inflorescence umbelloid; lower bracts 

 foliose, the lowest often exceeding the inflorescence, 

 its several branches straight, unequal, each bearing an 

 oblong to short-cylindric dense spike; floral bracts 

 ovate, acuminate: bractlets similar but smaller, fimbri- 

 ate at the apex; perianth i"-i%" long, brown, its 

 parts lanceolate-ovate, acuminate; capsule obovoid or 

 broadly oblong; seed with an oblong body about '" 

 in length, supported on a narrower white loosely 

 cellular, strophiole-like base about one-half as long. 



In woodlands, almost throughout the United StaU-> ;i:ul 

 British America. Also in Europe and Asia. Variable. 

 One of our earliest flowering plants. 





