Rushes 



titions which, as joints, or knots, may be plainly felt when a leaf 

 is drawn through the hand. The leaves in the majority of the 

 species of Jointed Rushes are round. In the Sharp- 

 fruited Rush {Jun- 

 cus acuminatus), a 

 species which is usually 

 from one to two feet in height and is 

 very common in bogs, the inflorescence is 

 composed of spreading terminal branches 

 tipped with small, closely flowered heads. 

 The narrow divisions of the perianth are 

 sharp-pointed and are reddish brown in colour. 



The Grass-leaved Rush {J uncus margina- 

 ius) is found in moist sandy places. The stem, 

 seldom more than two feet tall, is erect and 

 somewhat flattened, and, as the common name 

 indicates, the leaves are long, flat, and grass- 

 like. The inflorescence is composed of three 

 to twenty small, brownish green heads of 

 flowers. There are but three stamens and the 

 anthers are reddish brown in colour. 



In the following species the flowers are placed 

 singly on the branches of the inflorescence and 

 are never in true heads. The leaves are grass-like. 



Yard Rush {J uncus tenuis), common in 

 country dooryards and by footpaths, seems to 

 thrive best when it is trodden under foot each 

 day. This rush grows in low-spreading clumps 

 of wiry, glistening stems which are leafless 

 except at the base from whence numerous 

 narrow leaves rise. The leaves are shorter 

 than the stems, but the inflorescence is much 

 exceeded by the lowest involucral leaf which 

 is usually from three to seven inches long. 

 Through June, July, and August the plant is 

 in bloom and the tiny flowers, scattered along 

 the branches of the inflorescence, or crowded 

 at their tips, are like pale stars. The perianth, 

 green on its outer surface, is whitish within, 

 and the six short anthers and the feathery 



331 



Yard Rush 

 Juncus tenuis 



