Scientific name: Juncus subnodulosus Schrank
Common name: Blunt-flowered Rush
Description
Habit: Perennial; rhizome creeping, thick, with internodes usually c. 1mm; stems 40-130cm, non-flowering shoots short, with one long leaf.
Leaves: Leaves various, grass-like to rush-like, glabrous, with 3-4 basal sheaths and 1-2 cauline leaves, linear and entire, similar to the stems but hollow, and with transverse internal partitions, which gives them a bamboo-like appearance when dry.
Flowers: Flowers hermaphrodite, regular, inflorescence diffuse, with very widely spreading to more or less reflexed branchlets; perianth inconspicuous, membranous, whitish or brownish, consisting of 6 free segments in two whorls of 3, obtuse, slightly shorter than the capsule; ovary 1-3-celled, with many ovules, style 0 or 1, stigmas 3, linear; stamens 6, 2/3-3/4 as long as perianth, anthers 1.5-2 times as long as filaments.
Fruits: A capsule with 3 or numerous seeds, slightly exceeding perianth, three-angled to ovoid, compressed laterally, attenuate, tipped with a short, sharp abrupt point, 3-locular; seeds 0.5-0.6mm, pear-shaped, markedly reticulate with c. 30 longitudinal ridges.
Habitat: Fens and calcareous marshes, also more rarely on acid blanket-bog.
Distribution: Frequent in the West and Centre, rare elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No