270 



JUNCACEAE (RUSH FAMILY) 



X. Glomerules spherical ; sepals subulate ; capsules subulate or lance- 

 subulate ; involucral bract usually exceeding the inflorescence. 

 Flowers 3-4 mm. long, reddish-brown ; petals equaling or exceed- 

 ing the sepals 



Flowers 4-5 mm. long, greenish or dull brown ; petals much shorter 



80. J. nodosug. 



81. J. Torreyi. 



than the sepals 



w. Glomerules hemispherical ; sepals blunt or acuminate, at most mu- 

 cronate-tipped ; capsules ovoid or ellipsoid ; involucral bract 

 much shorter than the inflorescence y. 



y. Sepals acuminate ; branches of the inflorescence widely divergent. 

 Flower brown or brownish ; capsule dark brown, 8^4 mm. long, 



gradually tapering to the mucronate tip .... 40. J. articulatus. 

 Flower greenish ; capsule pale brown, 2.5-3 mm. long, abruptly 



mucronate (40) J. articulatus, v. obtusatus 



y. Sepals blunt, often mucronate-tipped ; branches of inflorescence 



erect or strongly ascending. 



Branches strictly erect ; glomerules loosely few-flowered, gener- 

 ally with one or more flowers elevated on slightly elongate 

 pedicels. 



Flowers castaneous 39. J. alpinus. 



Flowers greenish or straw-colored (39) J. alpinus, v. insignis. 



Branches spreading-ascending ; glomerules compactly and regu- 

 larly flowered (89) J. alpinus, v. fuscescens. 



1. Flowers prophyllate, i.e. subtended by bracteoles (2) in addition to the 

 bractlet at base of pedicel. 



* Inflorescences mostly terminal; leaves flat or canaliculate, rarely terete. 



1. J. buf&nius L. Stems low and slender (0.3-3.5 dm. high), leafy, often 

 branched from the base ; cyme spreading ; flowers remote, greenish (3-7 mm. 

 long), rarely viviparous, or even converted into leafy tufts ; 

 sepals and petals linear-lanceolate, awl-pointed ; stamens short ; 

 filaments slightly longer than the anthers ; seeds narrowly ovoid 

 or ellipsoidal (0.3-0.5 mm. long). Damp open ground, road- 

 sides, etc., common. June-Nov. (Cosmop.) FIG. 567. 



Var. congSstus Wahlb. Flowers mostly in glomerules. In- 

 frequent. (Eu.) 



Var. halophilus Buchenau & Fernald. More fleshy through- 

 out; flowers mostly in 2's or 3's; whitish petals obtuse ; seeds 

 short-cylindric, abruptly truncate at one end. 

 Brackish shores, Gulf of St. Lawrence to 

 Mass. ; Neb. to Rocky Mts., etc. June-Sept. 

 (Eu.) FIG. 568. 



2. J. trifidus L. Stems densely tufted from 

 matted creeping rootstocks, erect (1-4 dm. 

 high), sheathed and mostly leafless at base, 

 2-B-leaved at the summit; flowers brown (3-4 mm. long) ; 

 sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute, equaling or rather shorter than 

 the ovate beak-pointed deep-brown capsule; anthers much 

 longer than the filaments; seeds few, oblong, angled (1.5-2 

 mm. long), short-tailed. Alpine summits, Lab. to N. E. and 568. j. buf., v. hal. 

 N. Y. June-Aug. (Greenl., Eurasia.) Part of inflorescence 



Var. mondnthos (Jacq.) Bluff & Fingerhuth. Taller (2.5-6 x %. 

 dm. high), the numerous basal leaves often equaling the culms. Seed x'30. 

 Local, mts. of s. N. Y. to Va. and N. C. (Eu.) 



3. J. Gerdrdi Loisel. (BLACK GRASS.) Stems scarcely flattened, rigid (1.5- 

 8 dm. high) ; cyme contracted, usually longer than the bracteal leaf ; flowers 

 3-4 mm. long ; sepals oval-oblong, nearly or quite as long as the ovoid obtuse 

 and mucronate capsule ; anthers much longer than the short filaments ; style as 

 long as the ovary ; seeds (0.4-0.5 mm. long) obovoid, delicately ribbed and cross- 

 lined. Salt marshes; common along the coast, rarely inland in Me., Vt., 

 N. Y., and about the Great Lakes. June-Sept. (Eurasia, n. Afr.) 



4. J. tSnuis Willd. Stem wiry (0.5-6 dm. high) ; cyme 1-8 cm. long, loose, 

 or barely crowded ; flowers green (3-4.5 mm. long), mostly aggregated at the tips 

 of the branches; sepals lanceolate, very acute, spreading in fruit, longer than 



567. J. bufonius. 

 Part of inflores- 

 cence x %. 

 Seed x 50. 



