27X) 



JUNCACEAE (RUSH FAMILY) 



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

 subulate ; involucral bract usually exceeding the ififlorescence. 

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

 ing the sepals 30. t/". nodosus. 



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



than the sepals 31. J. Torreyi. 



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



cronate-tipped ; cai)sules 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 darlc brown, 3-4 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 (39) J. alpinus, v. fusee scens. 



§ 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. bufbnius 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-No v. (Cosmop.) Fig. 567. 



Var. congestus Wahlb. Flowers mostly in glomerules. — In- 

 frequent. (Eu.) 



Var. hal6philus Buchenau & Fernald. More fleshy through- 

 out; floivers 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.) Fm. 568. 



2. J. trifidus L. Stems densely tufted from 

 matted creeping rootstocks., erect (1-4 dm. 

 high), sheathed and mostly leafless at base., 

 2-S-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 ses. J. buf., v. haU 

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



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

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

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



3. J. Gerdrdi Loisel. (Black Grass.) Stems scarcely flattened, rigid (1.5- 

 8 dmc 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. tenuis 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. 



