JUNCACEAE 



RUSH FAMILY 



COMMON RUSH. BASKET RUSH 



Jiinciis effusus L. 



The Rushes are a family of some 300 Grasslike per- 

 ennial herbs, 21 species of which are found in Illinois. 

 They prefer wet or moist localities where they commonly 

 grow in tufts. The leaves are either 

 flattened or cylindrical, and in the 

 latter case a large section of the family 

 has hollow leaves with crosswise par- 

 titions at frequent intervals, making the 

 leaves seem nodular. 



The inflorescence is commonly pani- 

 culate or cymose, and may be terminal 

 or lateral. Each flower consists of a 

 6-parted, green or brownish perianth, 

 3 or 6 stamens, and 1 pistil which 

 fruits as a many-seeded capsule. The 

 seeds are usually ribbed or covered 

 with a network of ridges. 



The Common Rush is truly cosmopoli- 

 tan as it lives wherever there is marshy 

 ground, nearly throughout North America 

 and in Europe and Asia. The soft stem, 

 I K-4 feet high, bears a diffusely branch- 

 ing, cymose inflorescence. The rootstock 

 is stout and branching. This is the Rush 

 that in olden time was extensively used 

 for mats, brushes and brooms, thatch 

 roofs and all kinds of fiber work. 



The parts of the green perianth are lanceolate and 

 acuminate. The anthers of the 3 stamens are a little shorter 

 than the filaments. The style is short. Many small seeds with 

 short pale points are contained in the 3-celled, narrow, point- 

 less and greenish brown capsule that is regularly dehiscent. The 

 seed is very small, less than one thirty-secondth of an inch long, 

 but is interesting in that examination under a lens will disclose 

 a network of ridges in about 16 longitudinal rows. 



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