Taxonomy
Family: Juncaceae
Habitat
Moist, usually calcareous sites such as fens.
Associates
Distribution
Most of the U.S. but absent from the southeast.
Morphology
Perennial herb 15-40 cm tall, from slender rhizomes. Cauline leaves 2-3; leaves terete, septate; auricles at summit of yellowish leaf sheath to 1 mm long. Flowers radiating in all directions in dense, spherical heads less than 12 mm and usually less than 10 mm in diameter; tepals acuminate; petals almost equal to but slightly shorter than the sepals; stamens 6; capsules slender, longer than the sepals.
Notes
Flowers June to August
Wetland indicator: Obligate
May be confused with small specimens of J. torreyi, but J. torreyi has shorter petals that are less subulate than the sepals.
References
Gleason, Henry A.
and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G.
Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
Michael Hough © 2009 |