Juncus
rush
51 species
14 subspecies and varieties
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Juncus acuminatusknotty leaf rush, sharp-fruited rush, tapered rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across much of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Ditches, lake margins, meadows and other wet places.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus alpinoarticulatusalpine rush, northern rush
Distribution: Occurring in scattered location on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; scattered throughout North America from Alaska to Washington, east across Canada and central U.S. to northeastern North America.
Habitat: Wet meadows, pond and lake shores.
Origin: Native
Flowers: July-September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus anthelatusgiant path rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California.
Habitat: Damp disturbed ground, ditches, and marshes.
Origin: Introduced from eastern North America
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus articulatusjoint-leaved rush, jointed rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Southern Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America.
Habitat: Wet places, from tidelands to streams or lake margins in the mountains.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
ssp. articulatus – jointed rush, jointleaf rush
Juncus balticusBaltic rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the norther Great Plains.
Habitat: Wet places, often where saline or alkaline.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
ssp. ater – Baltic rush, valley rush
Juncus bolanderiBolander's rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to coastal California.
Habitat: Marshes and river bottoms from tidelands to the lower mountains.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus brachycarpusshort-fruit rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; also occurring in eastern North America, where native.
Habitat: Vernal pools, wet prairie remnants, and ditches.
Origin: Introduced from central and eastern North America
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus breweriBrewer's rush, salt rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington along the coast; British Columbia to California.
Habitat: Coastal, damp sandy ground, dunes, and salt marsh margins.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus bufoniustoad rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast; circumboreal.
Habitat: Wet meadows, springs, mudflats, shores, seeps, vernal pools, ditches ,generally saline soil, damp dunes, salt marshes, and swales.
Origin: Native and introduced
Flowers: April-September
Growth Duration: Annual
var. bufonius – toad rush
var. congestus – clustered toad rush
var. occidentalis – western toad rush
Juncus bulbosusbulbous rush, spreading rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east across northern Canada to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Sandy or peaty shores of streams, and pools.
Origin: Introduced from Eurasia
Flowers: July-September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus canadensisCanadian rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; also in Oregon, otherwise widespread east of the Mississippi River.
Habitat: Brackish swamps, acid bogs, tidal flats and beaches.
Origin: Introduced from eastern North America
Flowers: June - July
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus compressusround-fruit rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America.
Habitat: Shores, railroads, salted roadsides, vernal pools, ditches.
Origin: Introduced from Europe
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus confususColorado rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the northern Great Plains.
Habitat: Springs, shores, washes, moist or drying meadows, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus conglomeratuscompact rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to Oregon, also in eastern North America.
Habitat: Ditches, wet pastures, shores, and railroad right of ways.
Origin: Introduced from Europe
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus covilleiCoville's rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho and Montana.
Habitat: Shores, peatlands, wet meadows, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus diffusissimusdiffuse rush, slimpod rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern Washington to California; also in the southeastern U.S., where native.
Habitat: Silty or gravelly riverbanks, and sandy depressions.
Origin: Introduced from the southeastern U.S.
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus drummondiiDrummond's rush, threeflower rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains.
Habitat: Alpine to subalpine meadows, streambanks, talus slopes and ridges.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus dudleyiDudley's rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Shores, seeps, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus effususcommon rush, Pacific rush, soft rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Moist areas, from coastal tideflats to mountain meadows and ridges.
Origin: Both native and introduced
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
ssp. effusus – soft rush
ssp. pacificus – Pacific rush
ssp. solutus – eastern soft rush
Juncus ensifoliusdagger rush, daggerleaf rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and eastern Canada.
Habitat: Shores of ponds and streams, wet meadows, fens, seeps, and ditches from low to high elevations in the mountains.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus falcatussickle-leaved rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest along the coast in Washington; Alaska to California.
Habitat: Coastal moist sand, dunes, shores, peatlands, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Perennial
ssp. sitchensis – Alaskan sickle-leaved rush
Juncus filiformisthread rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to northern Oregon, east to the northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America.
Habitat: Lake shores and coastal bogs to montane marshes and meadows; in Washington, from near sea level to about 5000 feet elevation.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus gerardiblack rush, mud rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in counties along the Puget Sound and outer coast; British Columbia to Oregon, east sporadically across the U.S. to the northern Atlantic coast of the U.S. and Canada; circumboreal.
Habitat: Coastal salt marshes.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-September
Growth Duration: Perennial
ssp. gerardi – black grass, Gerard's rush, mud rush
Juncus hemiendytusdwarf rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho, Utah, and Nevada.
Habitat: Vernal pools, streams and shores.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Annual
var. hemiendytus – dwarf rush, Hermann's dwarf rush
Juncus hesperiusbog rush, coastal rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California.
Habitat: Riparian forest, marshes, shores, peatlands, seeps, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus howelliiHowell's rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; central Washington to California, east to Idaho.
Habitat: Seeps, gravel shores, peatlands, and wet meadows.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus inflexusblue rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; south-central Washington to northern Oregon; also in eastern North America.
Habitat: Wet pastures and ditches.
Origin: Introduced from Eurasia and northern Africa
Flowers: May-July
ssp. inflexus – blue rush
Juncus interiorinland rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across much of North America to northeastern North America.
Habitat: Gravel or sand riverbanks, oxbow marshes, canals, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus kelloggiiKellogg's rush
Distribution: Occurring in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California.
Habitat: Stream banks, floodplains, wet prairie, swales, and vernal pools.
Origin: Native
Flowers: April-July
Growth Duration: Annual
Juncus laccatusshiny rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California and Arizona.
Habitat: Shores, springs, peatlands, seasonally wet meadows, and ditches, coastal and montane.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus longistylislong-styled rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and eastern Canada.
Habitat: Shores, wet meadows, peatlands, springs, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus mertensianusMertens' rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and northern Great Plains.
Habitat: Wet places along streams and lakes, mid- to high elevations in the mountains
Origin: Native
Flowers: July - September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus nevadensisNevada rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains.
Habitat: Wet plasces, margins of streams and lakes, from near sea level to middle elevations in the mountains.
Origin: Native
Flowers: July-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
var. inventus – dune rush, Oregon rush
var. nevadensis – Nevada rush, Sierra rush
Juncus nodosusknotted rush, tuberous rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California (not in Oregon), east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Shores, wet meadows, springs, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus occidentaliswestern rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest and east in the Columbia River Gorge to Klickitat County in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California and Mexico.
Habitat: Wet prairies, shores, springs, vernal pools, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus orthophyllusstraight-leaved rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Idaho and Nevada.
Habitat: Wet meadows, wet prairies, marshes, shores, seeps, ditches
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus oxymerispointed rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California.
Habitat: Wet meadows, wet prairies, shores, swales, and freshwater intertidal marshes.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus parryiParry's rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains.
Habitat: Exposed rocky slopes and stream banks from middle elevations to the alpine.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus patensspreading rush
Distribution: Occuring west of the Cascades crest in southwestern Washington; southwestern Washington to California.
Habitat: Wet prairies and riparian forests.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus pelocarpusbrown-fruited rush
Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington along the coast; southwestern British Columbia to southwestern Oregon.
Habitat: Sandy or peaty shores, and ditches; coastal, often near cranberry farms;
Origin: Introduced from northeastern North America
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus pylaeicommon rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in northeastern Washington; south-central British Columbia to northern Oregon and western Idaho.
Habitat: Ditches, canals, wet pastures, and marshes.
Origin: Introduced from eastern North America
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus regeliiRegel's rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; southeastern British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains.
Habitat: Shores, springs, wet meadows, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus saximontanusRocky Mountain rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Great Plains.
Habitat: Shores, springs, peatlands, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus supiniformishair-leaved rush, spreading rush
Distribution: Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California.
Habitat: Often in shallow water, peaty or sandy shores, marshes, and bog pools.
Origin: Native
Flowers: July-September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus tenuispath rush, poverty rush, slender rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Shores, seeps, damp ground, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June - September
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus tiehmiiTiehm's dwarf rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington, where disjunct; also in Boise County, Idaho, otherwise south-central Oregon to California and northern Nevada.
Habitat: Stream banks, floodplains, moist depressions
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Annual
Juncus torreyiTorrey's rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Shores, swales, seeps, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus trilocularisfoothill rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.
Habitat: Vernally damp meadows, springs, shores, moist open forests, and ditches.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus tweedyinarrow-panicled rush
Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest along the coast in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, scattered eastward across North America to the Atlantic Coast.
Habitat: Often near cranberry farms, on sandy and peaty shores or ditches,
Origin: Native in interior Washington, introduced along the coast.
Flowers: June-August
Growth Duration: Perennial
Juncus uncialisinch-high rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Nevada.
Habitat: Vernal pools, drying shores,and rocky swales.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-June
Growth Duration: Annual
Juncus vaseyiVasey's rush
Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in northeastern Washington; southeastern British Columbia to northeastern Washington, east and south to Idaho, western Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Habitat: Low elevation in marshes and wet meadows.
Origin: Native
Flowers: May-July
Growth Duration: Perennial