Species

Juncus tenuis subsp. tenuis

Etymology

Juncus: From the Latin jungere 'to tie or bind', the stems of some species being used to make cord (Johnson and Smith)

Common Name(s)

track rush

Family

Juncaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

Structural Class

Rushes and Allied Plants

Similar Taxa

Roots fibrous, tufted. Stem 15 to 60 cm tall, slender, round, hollow, wiry, dark green, branching at the top, not jointed. Leaves very narrow, glass-like, mostly at the base of the stems. Flowers small, greenish-brown, with 6 scale-like bracts surrounding the seed pod; borne in clusters of 3 at the tips of the stems. Seed pod nearly egg-shaped, brown, splitting into three sections when mature (Wax, Fawcett and Isely 1981).

Flower Colours

Brown,Green

Year Naturalised

1922

Origin

N. and S. America

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Seeds brown, small about 3mm long, with minute crossline markings (Wax, Fawcett and Isely 1981).




References and further reading

Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.

This page last updated on 5 Jun 2014