Juncus ensifolius
Schwertblättrige bulrush
The Schwertblättrige Rush belongs to the family of the Rushes. The name of the species refers to the flat and tapered shape of the leaves ( ensis = sword in Latin ). The home of this plant is of western North America.
Description
The Schwertblättrige bulrush is a creeping rhizome with Hemikryptophyt. The perennial herbaceous plant reaches a height of 20 to 60, a maximum of 80 centimeters. In contrast to most rushes of erect stems is flattened and narrowly winged. The plant has one to three basal leaves and two to six stem leaves. A bract of the inflorescence does not exist. The leaves are sword-shaped ( eponymous ), up to 25 inches long and up to six millimeters wide.
The inflorescence is not dominated by a carrier sheet, so it is terminal. It is usually from one to six rounded, very short stalked balls, which have a diameter of ten millimeters, and consist of up to 70 flowers. The flowers have six lanceolate, pointed bracts, which are about three to four millimeters long. The outer and inner three bracts sometimes differ slightly in length. They are often red to dark brown, or even green. The Schwertblättrige Rush has three or six stamens and bins typical three stigma lobes.
The fruit is a sharp triangular capsule, which is about as long as the perianth or slightly longer. It is walnut brown to dark brown and has a short spike tip. The seeds are ellipsoid, slightly tapered at the ends and 0.7 mm long.
Distribution and ecology
Main distribution area of Schwertblättrigen rush is the western North America from Alaska to California. Where it grows in open pond edges, in swamps and moist meadows at elevations from 400 to 3000 meters. It is in eastern Asia, eastern North America, naturalized in New Zealand and Europe. In Europe, it comes as a neophyte of the Alps before to after southern Sweden and southern Finland.
System
Juncus ensifolius was first described by Johan Emanuel Wikstrom 1823. According to Flora of North America Two varieties are distinguished:
- Juncus ensifolius var ensifolius has three stamens
- Juncus ensifolius montanus var has six stamens
Use
The Schwertblättrige Rush is offered in the plant trade and used for planting of pond edges.