Heath Rush

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Lachnum rehmii is saprobic on dead Juncus squarrosus
Remarks: season: 7-8

Herbs, perennial, cespitose to mat-forming, 2--5 dm. Rhizomes short, nearly erect, branching. Culms 1(--2). Cataphylls 2--4. Leaves basal, 3--6; auricles 0.2--0.4 mm, membranous to scarious; blade arcuate, spreading, grayish green, channeled, 7--30 cm x 1--2 mm, nearly leathery, margins entire. Inflorescences terminal, 7--40-flowered, somewhat loose, 3--10 x 1--2 cm; primary bract usually shorter than inflorescence. Flowers: pedicels 0.5--2 mm; bracteoles 2; tepals brown to blackish, 4--5.5 mm; outer and inner series nearly equal, apex obtuse to nearly acute; stamens 6, filaments 0.5 mm, anthers 1.5--2 mm; style 0.2 mm. Capsules brownish, 3-locular, ovoid to ellipsoid, 4--5 x 2.3--3 mm, nearly equal to perianth. Seeds brownish, ellipsoid, 0.6--0.9 mm, not tailed. 2n = 42.

introduced; Greenland; Wis.; native, Europe.

Flowering and fruiting late spring--summer.

Moist, open sites and bogs, occasionally disturbed areas; 20--200m.

Juncus squarrosus, called goose corn, heath rush, and mosquito rush, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Juncus, native to Iceland, Europe, and Morocco, and introduced to Greenland, Svalbard, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the US state of Wisconsin. It is pollution-tolerant.