Part 173 (1/2)

1. JuNCUS, Tourn. RUSH. BOG-RUSH.

Capsule many-seeded, 3-celled, or 1-celled by the placentae not reaching the axis. Stamens when 3 opposite the 3 outer sepals.--Chiefly perennials, and in wet soil or water, with pithy or hollow and simple (rarely branching) stems, and panicled or cl.u.s.tered small (greenish or brownish) flowers, chiefly in summer. Plant never hairy. (The cla.s.sical name, from _jungo_, to join, alluding to the use of the stems for bands.)

-- 1. _Stems leafless and scape-like, from matted running rootstocks, sheathed at base; the sheaths sometimes bearing terete knotless leaves like the scape; flowers in sessile apparently lateral panicles, the involucral leaf being similar to and continuing the scape._--JUNCUS proper.

[*] _Flowers solitary on the pedicels or ultimate ramifications of the panicle._

[+] _Sheaths at base of the stem leafless._

[++] _Stamens 3._

1. J. effusus, L. (COMMON or SOFT RUSH.) Scape soft and pliant (2--4 high); inner sheaths awned; panicle diffusely much branched, many-flowered; flowers small (1” long), greenish; sepals lanceolate, very acute, as long as the narrow triangular-obovate retuse and pointless greenish-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style very short; seeds small (about ” long), with short pale points.--Marshy ground, very common. (Eu.)--Var. CONGLOMERaTUS, Engelm.

Scape more distinctly striate; panicle closely crowded; capsule short-pointed. In sphagnous swamps.

[++][++] _Stamens 6._

2. J. filiformis, L. Scape very slender (1--2 high), pliant; panicle few-flowered, almost simple; flowers 1” long; sepals lanceolate, the inner a little shorter and less acute, longer than the broadly ovate obtuse but mucronate greenish capsule; anthers shorter than the filaments; style very short; seed (less than {1/3}” long) short-pointed at both ends, indistinctly reticulated.--N. Eng. to Mich., Neb., and northward. (Eu.)

3. J. Smithii, Engelm. Scape rather slender (2--3 high); panicle few-flowered, nearly simple; flowers brown (1” long); outer sepals lanceolate, acute, the inner a little shorter, obtusish, shorter than the broadly ovate rather triangular acute deep chestnut-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style short; seeds large ({1/3}” long or more), obtuse, short-appendaged at both ends, many-ribbed and reticulated.--Sphagnous swamps, on Broad Mt. and in Lebanon Co., Penn.

4. J. Balticus, Dethard, var. littoralis, Engelm. Scape rigid (2--3 high); panicle loose; flowers larger (2” long), chestnut-brown with green; sepals ovate-lanceolate, the outer sharp-pointed, the inner obtusish, as long as the elliptical rather triangular obtuse and mucronate deep brown capsule; anthers much longer than the broad filaments; style about the length of the ovary; seeds rather large (”

long or more), nearly obtuse, delicately ribbed and cross lined.--Sandy sh.o.r.es, Newf. to Ma.s.s., west to Penn., along the Great Lakes, and westward.--Var. MONTa.n.u.s, Engelm. Sepals nearly equal; anthers 4 times longer than the filament; capsule ovate-pyramidal, angled, beaked; seeds smaller, narrower, apiculate.--Minn., west and northward.

[+][+] _Innermost sheaths leaf-bearing; stamens 6._

5. J. setaceus, Rostkovius. Scape slender (1--3 high); panicle loose, rather few-flowered; flowers greenish (2” long); sepals lanceolate, sharp-pointed, especially the 3 s.h.i.+ning exterior ones, spreading in fruit, as long as the nearly globose beak-pointed greenish or light-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style conspicuous; seeds ({1/3}” long) almost globose, ribbed and cross-lined.--Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and La.

[*][*] _Flowers in cl.u.s.ters, 6-androus; innermost sheaths at base of stem leaf-bearing._

6. J. Rmeria.n.u.s, Scheele. Scape stout and rigid (2--3 high), its apex as well as the leaves pungent; panicle compound, open and spreading, brown; 3--6 greenish or light-brown flowers (1” long) in a cl.u.s.ter; outer sepals lanceolate, sharp-pointed, longer than the obtusish inner ones, as long as the elliptical rather triangular obtuse mucronate brown capsule; anthers much longer than the broad filaments; styles shorter than the ovary; seeds ({1/3}” long) oval, obtuse, very delicately ribbed.--Brackish marshes, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.

7. J. maritimus, L. Resembling the last, but with a rigid contracted green panicle, an ovary attenuated into a style of nearly its own length, a greenish acute capsule which usually exceeds the acute sepals, and seeds with distinct tails and stronger ribs.--Known in this country only from Coney Island, N. Y., where it is apparently indigenous. (Eu.)

-- 2. _Stems simple (rarely branched), leafy at base or throughout; leaves flat, or somewhat terete or setaceous and channelled, never knotted; panicle or head terminal._--GRa.s.sY-LEAVED JUNCI.

[*] _Flowers in close heads (produced in late summer)._

[+] _Leaves thread-like, hollow; stamens 6; seeds few, large and caudate; the single head (sometimes 2) 1--4-flowered._

8. J. stgius, L. Stems slender (6--16' high) from slender branching rootstocks, 1--3-leaved below, naked above; heads 1 or rarely 2, of 3--4-flowers, about the length of the sheathing scarious awl-pointed bract; flowers pale and reddish (2--3” long); sepals lanceolate, the inner obtusish, the length of the oblong ac.u.minate capsule, as long as the slender stamens; filaments many times longer than the oblong anthers; recurved stigmas shorter than the style; seeds oblong, with a very loose coat prolonged at both ends (1” long).--Peat-bogs, Newf. to northern N. Y., west to Mich. and N. Minn. (Eu.)

9. J. trifidus, L. Stems densely tufted from matted creeping rootstocks, erect (5--10' high), sheathed and mostly leafless at base, 2--3-leaved at the summit, the upper thread-like leaves subtending the sessile head; flowers brown (1--2” long); sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute, equalling or rather shorter than the ovate beak-pointed deep brown capsule; anthers much longer than the filaments; seeds few, oblong, angled (1”

long), short-tailed.--Alpine summits of N. Eng. and N. Y., and far northward; also in N. J. (Eu.)

[+][+] _Leaves flat and gra.s.s-like; stamens 3; stems flattened, simple, leafy._

10. J. repens, Michx. Stems ascending (4--6' high) from a fibrous annual root, at length creeping or floating; leaves short, linear, those of the stem nearly opposite and fascicled; heads few in a loose leafy panicle, 3--12-flowered; flowers green (3” long); sepals rigid, lance-subulate, slender-pointed, the 3 outer as long as the linear triangular obtuse capsule, the inner much longer; stamens as long as the outer sepals; filaments many times longer than the oblong anthers; seeds small ({1/5}” long), obovate, slightly pointed, very delicately ribbed and cross-lined.--Miry banks, Md. to Fla. and La.

11. J. marginatus, Rostk. Stem erect, from a bulbous and stoloniferous base (1--3 high); leaves long-linear; heads 3--8-flowered, panicled; flowers purplish with green (1” long); sepals oblong, the 3 outer acute and slightly awned, the inner longer, mostly obtuse, as long as the almost globular scarcely mucronate capsule; stamens exceeding the outer sepals; purple anthers shorter than the filaments; style very short; seeds (--{1/3}” long) slender, pointed at both ends and strongly ribbed.--Moist sandy places, S. New Eng. to Fla., west to Mich., Mo., and Tex.--Var. PAUCICAPITaTUS, Engelm., has few large 8--15-flowered heads; and var. BIFLRUS, Engelm., has numerous small 2--3-flowered heads in much-branched panicles.