keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

714 JUNCACEAE/LUZULA
mm long. Damp sandy ground; widespread in East TX; also Gulf Prairies and Marshes and scattered
to the w; e U.S. from NY s to FL w to NE and TX. Late May–Aug.
Juncus tenuis Willd., (slender), SLENDER RUSH, POVERTY RUSH, PATH RUSH. Tufted perennial 8–
30(–50) cm tall, with basal offshoots but without obvious rhizomes; panicle 3–6(–9) cm long,
ca. 1/4–1/5 the total height of plant (in contrast to the sometimes similar J. bufonius); internodes
of inflorescence usually less than 5 mm long; perianth 3.3–5.5 mm long; anthers 0.1–0.2
mm long (shorter than in the similar J. anthelatus); capsule (3.3–)3.8–4.7 mm long. Moist sand
in woods, often in disturbed areas or places with compacted soils (e.g., along paths or trails);
Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah w in Red River drainage to Grayson Co. (BRIT); also n Gulf
Prairies and Marshes; throughout most of the U.S. and Canada. Spring, rarely summer.
Juncus texanus (Engelm.) Coville, (of Texas), TEXAS RUSH. Slender perennial 20–80 cm tall,
freely rhizomatous, the elongate rhizomes thin (ca. 1 mm in diam.), with swollen nodes; perianth
(3.5–)3.9–5.4 mm long; capsule 5.2–6.5(–8) mm long, with slender, prolonged, exserted tip.
Low ground; in East TX mainly in the Blackland Prairie and to the e in Houston Co. (BRIT); also
Cross Timbers and Prairies and e Edwards Plateau; endemic to TX (Brooks & Clemants 2000)
or nearly so (possibly present in adjacent OK—Kartesz 1999; Carr 2002b). Jun–Jul. E?
Juncus torreyi Coville, (for John Torrey, 1796–1873, coauthor with Asa Gray of “The Flora of
North America”), TORREY’S RUSH. Perennial 30–110 cm tall, rhizomatous, the rhizomes elongate,
1–3 mm in diam., often with swollen nodes, light-colored; heads 8–10(–11) mm thick, closely
crowded; perianth 3.4–6 mm long; capsule (4.3–)4.5–5.7 mm long. Damp or wet ground; widespread
in TX; throughout most of the U.S. and s Canada. Jun–Jul, sporadically to Oct.
Juncus trigonocarpus Steud., (three-cornered fruit), RED-POD RUSH. Perennial often in large
clumps, coarse, rigid, 50–90(–120) cm tall; perianth 2.5–3.5 mm long; capsule 3.5–5 mm long,
sharply 3-angled; seeds caudate (= with tails � as long as body of seed). Seeps and bogs on
sandy soils; scattered in the Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah; Brooks and Clemants (2000)
also mapped an outlying location (county unspecified) in the nw part of East TX; se U.S. from
NC s to FL w to TX. Sep–Nov. [J. caudatus Chapm.]
Juncus validus Coville, (vigorous). Perennial resembling J. torreyi but heads well-separated;
stems 30–100 cm tall; rhizomes often very short or absent, without tuberous thickenings; perianth
usually 3.4–4.2(–5) mm long; capsule 4–5.5 mm long. Damp or wet ground. Jun–Oct.
1. Inflorescences mostly 2–5 cm long, of 6–15 heads; capsules tardily dehiscent (valves of capsules
united at tips even after dehiscence) _______________________________________________ var. fascinatus
1. Inflorescences 5–30 cm long, of (12–)15–76 heads; capsules promptly completely dehiscent
(valves of capsules separate at tips after dehiscence) _____________________________________ var. validus
var. fascinatus M.C. Johnst., (fascinating). Bastrop, Caldwell, DeWitt, Guadalupe, Travis
(Johnston 1964b), and Grayson (Turner et al. 2003) cos.; w margin of East TX w to Cross Timbers
and Prairies and e Edwards Plateau (Johnston 1964b); also Gulf Prairies & Marshes; endemic
to TX (Kartesz 1999; Brooks & Clemants 2000; Carr 2002c). E
var. validus, ROUND-HEAD RUSH. Widespread in e 1/2 of TX; se U.S. from NC s to FL w to KS and
TX. According to Brooks and Clemants (2000), “Juncus validus var. validus closely resembles J.
polycephalus but differs in having complete septa, long-exserted capsules, and terete stems.”
LUZULA DC. WOODRUSH
Perennials with stems in tufts or solitary; leaf blades flat, grass-like, with pubescence; leaf
sheaths closed; inflorescences terminal, of 5–10(–13) usually simple branches, with 1–3 leaf-like
bracts; flowers (in East TX species) in few-flowered glomerules; capsules obovoid to subglobose,