JUNCACEAE

RUSH FAMILY

Janice Coffey Swab

Annual, perennial herb, generally from rhizomes
Stem round or flat
Leaves generally mostly basal; sheath margins fused, or overlapping and generally with 2 ear-like extensions at blade junction; blade round, flat, or vestigial, glabrous or margin hairy
Inflorescence: head-like clusters or single flowers, variously arranged; bracts subtending inflorescence 2, generally leaf-like; bracts subtending inflorescence branches 1–2, reduced; bractlets subtending flowers generally 1–2, generally translucent
Flower generally bisexual, radial; sepals and petals similar, persistent, green to brown or purplish black; stamens generally 3 or 6, anthers linear, persistent; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 1 or 3, placentas 1 and basal or 3 and axile or parietal, stigmas generally > style
Fruit: capsule, loculicidal
Seeds 3–many, often with white appendages on 1 or both ends
Genera in family: 9 genera, 325 species: temp, arctic, tropical mtns. Fls late spring to early fall.

LUZULA

HAIRY WOOD RUSH

Perennial; rhizome often short, vertical
Stem round
Leaves mostly basal, reduced upward; sheath closed; margin and sheath opening generally with long, soft hairs; blades flat or channeled, veins indistinct, tips often thick
Inflorescence: head-like clusters or panicles of separate flowers; bractlets 1–3, margins often hairy
Flower: stamens 6; pistil 1, chamber 1, placenta basal
Seeds 3, plump, elliptic, often with a distinct ridge, sometimes attached to placenta by tuft of hairs
Species in genus: 80 species: worldwide, especially n hemisphere
Etymology: (Latin: light; Italian: glowworm)
When present, fleshy seed appendage (outer seed coat) adapts large seeds to ant dispersal.

Native

L. subcongesta (S. Watson) Jeps.

Plant from stout horizontal rhizome, 15–48 cm
Leaf: blade < 19 cm, 3–5 mm wide, bluish green, tapered abruptly to long tip
Inflorescence: clusters 3–12-flowered, crowded at ends of uneven, often arching peduncles; lowest bract 2–3 cm, inconspicuous; bractlets clear, margin hairy
Flower: perianth segments 1.5–2 mm (sepals = petals), pale to dark brown, tips acute; filaments ± = anthers
Fruit < perianth, pale to dark brown-purple, short-beaked
Seed 1.1–1.2 mm, 0.6 mm wide, brown; appendage 0
Chromosomes: 2n=24
Ecology: Alpine to subalpine moist or wet places
Elevation: 2000–3500 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada
Horticultural information: STBL.