| Juncus effusus | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Juncaceae |
| Genus: | Juncus |
| Species: | J. effusus |
| Binomial name | |
| Juncus effusus | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
List
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Juncus effusus is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae, with the common names common rush or soft rush. In North America, the common name soft rush also refers to Juncus interior .
Juncus effusus has a wide distribution, considered native in Europe, Asia, Africa, Madagascar, North America, and South America. It has naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and various oceanic islands. [1]
It grows in wet areas, such as wetlands, riparian areas, and marshes with sandy and peaty substrates. It is common throughout the British Isles by rivers, streams and lakes, in wet heathland and pastures, [2] including purple moor-grass and rush pastures and fen-meadow plant associations. [3]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(April 2023) |
Juncus effusus grows in large clumps up to about 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) tall. [4] : 984 The stems are smooth cylinders with light pith filling. The yellowish inflorescence appears to emerge from one side of the stem about 20 centimetres (8 in) from the top. In fact the stem ends there; the top part is the bract, that continues with only a slight colour-band marking it from the stem. The lower leaves are reduced to a brown sheath at the bottom of the stem.
Five subspecies are currently recognized: [1]
Juncus effusus can be differentiated from the rarer Juncus pylaei by the number of ridges on the stem. Juncus effusus has 30 to 40 ridges and J. pylaei has 10 to 20. [11]
The species provides wildfowl, wader feeding, and nesting habitats, and also habitats for small mammals. The rootstalks are eaten by muskrats, and birds take shelter amongst the plant's stems. A number of invertebrates feed on soft rush, including the rufous minor moth. [12]
Juncus effusus is one of the seven ingredients of hui sup tea (去濕茶).[ citation needed ] In Japan, this rush is called igusa (藺草) and is grown to be woven into the covering of tatami mats (the filling is rice straw, extruded styrofoam, chip board, or some combination). [13] In Iran and Afghanistan too it is used to weave light cheap mats. It is called halfa (حلفا) and has medicinal uses too. In Europe, this rush was once used to make rushlights (by soaking the pith in grease), a cheap alternative to candles.
The species is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for planting in water gardens, native plant and wildlife gardens, and for larger designed natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects.
The cultivar Juncus effusus 'Spiralis' (syn. Juncus spiralis), with the common names corkscrew rush or spiral rush, is a distinctive potted and water garden plant due to its very curled spiral like foliage. [14]
Juncus effusus can become a naturalized or invasive species, undesirable in rangelands for its unpalatability to livestock. Suggested methods of controlling rushes include: ploughing; high applications of inorganic fertilizer (can pollute watersheds); and topping to prevent seed formation.
Juncusol is a 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene found in J. effusus. [15] [16] The plant also contains effusol [17] and dehydroeffusol. [18]
Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble grasses and sedges. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range of moisture conditions. The best-known and largest genus is Juncus. Most of the Juncus species grow exclusively in wetland habitats. A few rushes, such as Juncus bufonius are annuals, but most are perennials. Despite the apparent similarity, Juncaceae are not counted among the plants with the vernacular name bulrush.
Juncus is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species.
Dioscorea communis or Tamus communis is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae and is commonly known as black bryony, lady's-seal or black bindweed.
Juncus effusus 'Spiralis', the corkscrew rush, is a perennial plant with green spiraling stems. It is a cultivar of the soft rush, Juncus effusus.
Juncus bufonius, known commonly as toad rush, is a widespread flowering plant species complex in the rush family Juncaceae.
Dendrobium nobile, commonly known as the noble dendrobium, is a member of the family Orchidaceae. It has become a popular cultivated decorative house plant, because it produces colourful blooms in winter and spring, at a time when little else is in flower. It is also one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, known as shí hú or shí hú lán. Dendrobium nobile is one of the most widespread ornamental members of the orchid family. Its blooms are variegated in colour, shading from white through pink and purple, and the many different cultivated varieties produce different sized and coloured blooms.
Juncus acutus, the spiny rush, sharp rush or sharp-pointed rush, is a flowering plant in the monocot family Juncaceae. It is native to the Americas, Northern and Southern Africa, Western and Southern Europe and West Asia, and is found in a variety of wet habitats, such as bogs, fens, meadows, and salt marshes, and along the edges of ponds and lakes.
Juncus articulatus is a flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae. It is known by the common name jointleaf rush or jointed rush, which can also refer to J. kraussii from Australia. It is native to Eurasia, Canada, Greenland and much of the United States. It grows in moist areas, such as wet sand, and thrives in calcareous soils. J. articulatus was found to be more sensitive to drought and salt stress than its congeners J. acutus and J. maritimus. It is a perennial herb producing mainly erect stems from a short rhizome. The stem may root at nodes, and it generally has one or more flattened hollow cylindrical leaves up to 10 centimeters long. Transverse internal partitions or joints may be seen or felt in the leaf of the plant.
Juncus balticus subsp. mexicanus, synonym Juncus mexicanus, is a species of rush known by the common name Mexican rush. It is native to much of the west of the United States, Mexico and Central and South America. It is a plant of moist areas in a great number of habitats, from coast to desert to mountain and low to high elevation.
Sambucus racemosa is a species of elderberry known by the common names red elderberry and red-berried elder.
Juncus textilis is a species of rush known by the common name basket rush. It is endemic to California, where it grows along the coast and in the coastal mountain ranges of the southern half of the state.
Galium trifidum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family, known by the common name three-petal bedstraw. It grows widespread in the arctic, temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere: northern and central Asia, northern and eastern Europe and much of North America.
Juncus balticus is a species of rush known by the common name Baltic rush. It is a perennial flowering plant in the family Juncaceae. It can reach a height of about 75 centimetres. It is native to north-western Europe from Spain to northern European Russia, most of North America except the south-eastern United States, parts of Mexico and Central America, and western and southern South America from Colombia to Argentina. It is available from specialist nurseries for landscaping and soil stabilization purposes.
Juncus kraussii commonly known as salt marsh rush, sea rush, jointed rush, matting rush or dune slack rush, is of the monocot family Juncaceae and genus Juncus. It grows in salt marshes, estuarine and coastal areas.
Juncus acutiflorus, also called sharp-flowered rush, is a rush or a grassy flowering plant in the family Juncaceae. As the name suggests, the plant has notable sharp-looking flowers, flowering between July and September.
Juncus phaeocephalus, the brown-headed rush, is native mostly along the coast of California, north to Oregon and Washington. It grows in moist seeps and shallow wet soil.
Juncusol is a 9,10-dihydrophrenathrene found in Juncus species such as J. acutus, J. effusus or J. roemerianus.
Juncus inflexus, the hard rush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Juncaceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa, and introduced in Sri Lanka, Java, Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul, Victoria in Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, and eastern North America. It is a glycophyte (non-halophyte).
Juncus alpinoarticulatus, called the northern green rush and the alpine rush, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Juncus, with a circumboreal distribution. It prefers wet sandy soils, peat bogs, acidic fens, and ditches.
Media related to Juncus effusus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Juncus effusus at Wikispecies| Authority control databases: National |
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