Toad Rush

Sinai.

Cosmopolitan, though rare in tropical and arctic regions, uncertain where indigenous.

Endemic.

A very widespread and variable species occuring in a wide range of damp habitats. Kreczetowicz & Gontscharov (in Kom, l.c.) have split it into 5 or 6 independent species, based on habit, flower size etc., but their status is uncertain. Some of these are reduced to synonym or recognized here as varieties of this species.

Nearly worldwide, Juncus bufonius is found essentially throughout North America except north of the Alaskan and Canadian tTaiga. Juncus bufonius is a highly polymorphic complex that is poorly understood systematically. Insufficient evidence exists upon which to base the segregation of the plethora of taxa that have been recognized out of this group in the past.

Annual, erect, ascending to spreading herb, (3-)5-30 (-50) cm long, fibrous rooted, slender, often gregarious and seemingly tufted or caespitose, usually with several basal leaves and one cauline leaf; stem branched, slender. Leaves usually 1-5 cm x 1-1.15 mm, setaceous or filiform, with a non-auricled broader sheathing base, deeply channeled. Inflorescence a much branched to subsimple panicle, often occupying greater part of the plant with distantly placed (2-) 3-5 (or more) flowers on each branch. Flowers (3-) 5-7.5 mm long, solitary or sometimes 2-3, seemingly together, sessile or subsessile, greenish to straw-coloured; perianth segments unequal, outer usually longer, lanceolate-acuminate, often pale green with hyaline margins, exceeding the oblong, blunt capsules. Stamens 6, up to 2 mm long with subequal anthers and filaments. Capsules (3-) 4-5 mm long, c. 2 mm broad, ovoid to oblong with rounded to obtuse apices, very minutely pointed at the apex, buff, yellowish to brownish; seeds ovoid-rounded to broadly ellipsoid, 0.3-0.5 mm long, c. 1.5 times as long as broad, usually reddish-brown, mucilaginous.

Herbs, annual, cespitose, 0.5--4 dm. Culms 1--many, occasionally becoming decumbent. Cataphylls 0--2. Leaves basal and cauline; auricles rudimentary or absent; blade flat, 3--13 cm x 0.3--1.1 mm. Inflorescences loose and diffuse or less often compact, usually at least ½1/2 total height of plant; primary bract shorter than inflorescence. Flowers: bracteoles 2; tepals greenish, lanceolate, 3.8--7(--8.5) mm; inner series slightly shorter, apex sometimes obtuse; stamens 3--6, filaments (0.7--)1--1.8 mm, anthers 0.3--0.8 mm; style 0.1--0.2 mm. Capsules tan to reddish brown, 3-locular, ellipsoid to narrowly so, slightly truncate, 2.7--4 x 1--1.5 mm, sometimes exceeding inner tepals but usually not outer series. Seeds yellowish, widely ellipsoid to ovoid, 0.26--0.49, not tailed. 2n = 27--37, 58--81, 108--115.

Plants annual, 4--20(--30) cm tall. Stems usually many, erect or ascending, usually weak, base often reddish brown. Leaves basal and cauline; leaf sheath often swollen basally, margin hyaline; leaf blade flat, 1--13 cm × ca. 1 mm, margin often slightly convolute. Inflorescences usually lax, 1/4--4/5 × plant height; branches few, ascending, somewhat arcuate, usually weak, few flowered. Flowers subterminal, remote, appressed to subappressed; involucral bract leaflike. Bracteoles 2 or 3, 1.3--2.5 × 1.2--2.2 mm. Perianth segments lanceolate; outer segments 4.25--5.5 × 1--1.8 mm, center green, margin broadly white membranous, apex sharply pointed; inner segments 4--5 mm, often mostly membranous, apex acute. Stamens 6, 1/3--1/2 as long as perianth; filaments 0.8--1.2 mm; anthers 0.5--0.8 mm. Style absent; stigmas ca. 0.5 mm. Capsule ovoid to subellipsoid, 3--4(--5) mm, 3-loculed, apex slightly obtuse. Seeds ellipsoid, 0.4--0.6 mm, striate, base and apex usually apiculate. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Jun--Sep. 2 n = 100, 110.

Temperate regions of Europe, Asia and America.

Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; SW Asia, Europe, North and South America].

1100-2400 m

Wet grasslands, swamps, lakesides, river banks, streamsides; 100--3500 m.

Flowering and fruiting spring--early fall. Moist soils in meadows, along lakeshores or stream banks, ditches, or roadsides, especially frequent in drawdown areas; usually in open sites and often becoming weedy; Greenland; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.; nearly worldwide.

Juncus bufonius var. congestus (S. Watson) Fernald; J. bufonius var. halophilus Buchenau & Fernald; J. bufonius var. hybridus Farwell; J. bufonius var. occidentalis F. J. Hermann; J. bufonius var. ranarius Farwell; J. ranarius Songeon. & E. Perrieeir; J. bufonius var. ranarius Farwell; J. bufonius var. occidentalis F. J. Hermann; J. congestus S. Watson; J. ranarius Songeon & E. Perrier

Juncus bufonius, known commonly as toad rush, is a widespread flowering plant species complex in the rush family Juncaceae.