Common names for "rush" are usually related to a particular genus from a botanical family, for example:
Rush family – Juncaceae
Genus – Juncus
Species – Juncus effusus [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2]
Sedge family – Cyperaceae
Genus – Schoenoplectus
Species – Schoenoplectus lacustris [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] [lower-alpha 5]
Bulrush family – Typhaceae
Genus – Typha
Species – Typha latifolia [lower-alpha 6] [lower-alpha 7]
Rush family – Juncaceae
Genus – Juncus
Species – Juncus effusus
Species – Juncus interior
Sedge family – Cyperaceae
Genus – Schoenoplectus
Species – Schoenoplectus acutus [lower-alpha 8]
Bulrush family – Typhaceae
Genus – Typha
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.
Schoenoplectus acutus, called tule, common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the plant family Cyperaceae, native to freshwater marshes all over North America. The common name derives from the Nāhuatl word tōllin, and it was first applied by the early settlers from New Spain who recognized the marsh plants in the Central Valley of California as similar to those in the marshes around Mexico City.
Schoenoplectus is a genus of plants in the sedge family with a cosmopolitan distribution. Note that the name bulrush is also applied to species in the unrelated genus Typha as well as to other sedges. The genus Schoenoplectus was formerly considered part of Scirpus, but recent phylogenetic data shows that they are not closely related.
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.
Agrostology, sometimes graminology, is the scientific study of the grasses. The grasslike species of the sedge family (Cyperaceae), the rush family (Juncaceae), and the bulrush or cattail family (Typhaceae) are often included with the true grasses in the category of graminoid, although strictly speaking these are not included within the study of agrostology. In contrast to the word graminoid, the words gramineous and graminaceous are normally used to mean "of, or relating to, the true grasses (Poaceae)".
Scirpus is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush. They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations.
Schoeneoplectus californicus is a species of sedge known by the common names California bulrush, southern bulrush and giant bulrush. It is also sometimes called "tule", but the closely related Schoenoplectus acutus is the species most often referred to by that name.
Bolboschoenus fluviatilis, the river bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. Its range includes Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Canada, the United States, and northeastern Mexico. B. fluviatilis and its fruits are important as food sources for waterfowl such as geese, ducks, bitterns, and swans. It also provides cover and nesting sites for these and other species of birds, as well as small mammals. Like other Bolboschoenus species, B. fluviatilis has strong tubers and rhizomes which help to stabilize intertidal habitats by preventing erosion.
In botany and ecology, graminoid refers to a herbaceous plant with a grass-like morphology, i.e. elongated culms with long, blade-like leaves. They are contrasted to forbs, herbaceous plants without grass-like features.
Schoenoplectus pungens is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known as common threesquare, common three-square bulrush and sharp club-rush. It is a herbaceous emergent plant that is widespread across much of North and South America as well as Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Rushbearing is an old English ecclesiastical festival in which rushes are collected and carried to be strewn on the floor of the parish church. The tradition dates back to the time when most buildings had earthen floors and rushes were used as a form of renewable floor covering for cleanliness and insulation. The festival was widespread in Britain from the Middle Ages and well established by the time of Shakespeare, but had fallen into decline by the beginning of the 19th century, as church floors were flagged with stone. The custom was revived later in the 19th century and is kept alive today as an annual event in a number of towns and villages in the north of England.
Schoenoplectiella mucronata is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names bog bulrush, rough-seed bulrush, and ricefield bulrush. It is native to Eurasia, Africa and Australia. It grows in moist and wet terrestrial habitat, and in shallow water. It is a perennial herb growing from a short, hard rhizome. The erect, three-angled stems grow in dense clumps and can reach a metre tall. The leaves take the form of sheaths wrapped around the base of stem, but they generally do not have blades. The inflorescence is a headlike cluster of cone-shaped spikelets accompanied by an angled, stiff bract which may look like a continuation of the stem.
Schoenoplectus subterminalis is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names water bulrush, water club-rush, and swaying bulrush. It is native to North America, where it is known from many parts of the Canada and the United States. It has been common in the northeastern US and eastern Canada as well as the Great Lakes region, as well as many locations in the mountains of the West, though apparently absent from the Southwest and from most of the Great Plains.
Schoenoplectiella hallii is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name Hall's bulrush. It is native to the United States, where it has a disjunct distribution, occurring in widely spaced locations throughout the Midwest and East. It is a rare plant.
Old River Bed, Shrewsbury is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located two miles north of Shrewsbury town centre, to the east of the A528 in Shropshire, England. It is currently owned and managed by Shrewsbury Town Council.
Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants
Schoenoplectus lacustris, the lakeshore bulrush or common club-rush, is a species of club-rush that grows in fresh water across Europe and some neighbouring areas.
Machynys Ponds is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Carmarthenshire, Wales, designated in 1993 for its botanical features.