23. Juncus Longistylis Torr. Long-Styled Rush

Fig. 1188

Juncus longistylis Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 223. 1859.

Stems erect, loosely tufted, 8'-3o' high, rather stiff, slender, compressed, 1-3-leaved. Leaf-blades 3/4"-1 1/2" wide, acute, striate, the midrib well defined; inflorescence 2' high or less, usually of 2-10 irregular 3-8-flowered heads, or reduced to a single larger one; perianth 2V-3" long, the parts equal, brown, lanceolate, acuminate, with hyaline margins; stamens 6, half to two-thirds as long as the perianth, the yellow linear anthers longer than the filaments; style about 1/2" long; stigmas 1"-1 1/2" long; capsule oblong, brown, angled above, obtuse or depressed at the summit, mucronate, 3-celled; seed oblong, white-tipped, about \" long, 14-20-ribbed.

Newfoundland; western Ontario to Nebraska, British Columbia and New Mexico.

24. Juncus Repens Michx. Creeping Rush

Fig. 1189

Juncus repens Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 191. 1803.

Perennial by prostrate rooting branches; stems tufted, compressed, ascending, floating or prostrate, 2'-2o' long. Leaves with compressed sheaths 10" in length, auriculate, the blades 1'-3 1/2' long, 1/2"-1" broad, filiform-acuminate; inflorescence of 1-8 heads, one or more heads often occurring also at the lower nodes; heads 5-10-flowered; flowers 3"-5" long, the outermost slightly recurved; perianth-parts subulate-lanceolate, the outer keeled, about one-third shorter than the inner; stamens 3, half to one-third the length of the perianth; filaments longer than the yellow anthers; capsule subulate, beak-less, about as long as the outer perianth-parts, 3-celled, the valves membranous, breaking away from the axis in dehiscence; seed oblong, acute at either end, 3/8"-1/5" long, finely reticulate in 25-40 longitudinal rows.

In swamps and streams, Delaware to Florida, Cuba and Texas, and in Lower California.

25. Juncus Castaneus Smith. Chestnut Rush. Clustered Alpine Rush

Fig. 1190

J uncus castaneus Smith, Fl. Brit. 1: 383. 1800.

Stems erect, 4-20' high, terete, leafless, or with a single leaf, arising singly from a slender rootstock. Basal leaves 3-5, the outer sheaths short, loose, the inner clasping, sometimes 4' long, not auriculate, their blades tapering from an involute-tubular base to a slender channeled acutish apex; inflorescence strict, usually exceeded by its lowest bract, the other bracts membranous and mostly equalling the flowers; heads 1-3, 3-12-flowered; pedicels 1/2"-1 1/4" long; perianth brown or black, 2"~3 1/2' long, its parts lanceolate, acute; stamens nearly as long as the perianth; anthers about 1/2" long; capsule brown, paler toward the base, 1 1/2-2 times as long as the perianth, narrowly oblong, tapering to an acute summit, imperfectly 3-celled; seed 1 1/4"-2" long, contracted into long slender tails, the body about i" long.

Newfoundland and Quebec to Alaska, south along the mountains to Colorado. Europe and Asia.