Juncus potaninii Buch.

Plants perennial, tufted, 6--15 cm tall. Stems erect or obliquely ascending, ca. 0.3 mm in diam. Cataphylls 1--3; basal and cauline leaves 2(--4); leaf sheath auricles obtuse, 0.1--0.3 mm, membranous; leaf blade filiform, proximal one 5--11 cm × 0.3--0.5 mm, distal one 2--3 cm. Inflorescences terminal; head solitary, rarely paired, (1 or)2-flowered; bracts 2 or 3, broadly ovate, ca. 3 mm, apex acute. Perianth segments whitish to yellowish but outer ones brownish with age, lanceolate, 3.8--4 mm, unequal with inner ones slightly longer than outer, apex subacute. Stamens 6, subequaling or slightly longer than perianth; filaments 2.5--3 mm; anthers 0.8--1 mm. Style 0.8--1 mm; stigmas capitate, ca. 0.5 mm. Capsule dark brown at maturity, ovoid-oblong, 3.5--3.7 mm, 1-loculed, apex beaked; beak ca. 0.3 mm. Seeds ovoid, 0.5--0.7 mm; appendages 0.2--0.3 mm, unequal. Fl. Jun--Sep, fr. Jul--Sep.

Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.

* Moist places on forested slopes, alpine meadows, streamsides, rock crevices, roadsides; 2300--4200 m.

Juncus luzuliformis Franchet var. potaninii (Buchenau) Buchenau.