Juncaceae

Rush family
Juncus effusus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Juncaceae Juss.[1]
Type genus
Juncus L.
Genera
Distichia Juncus - rush Luzula - woodrush Marsippospermum Oxychloe Patosia Rostkovia

The Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants of eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses and sedges. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range of moisture conditions. The most well-known and largest genus is Juncus. Most of the Juncus species grow exclusively in wetland habitats. A few rushes are annuals, but most are perennials.

The leaves are evergreen and well-developed in a basal aggregation on an erect stem. They are alternate and tristichous (i.e., with three rows of leaves up the stem, each row of leaves arising one-third of the way around the stem from the previous leaf). Only in the genus Distichia are the leaves distichous. The rushes of the genus Juncus have flat, hairless leaves or cylindrical leaves. The leaves of the wood-rushes of the genus Luzula are always flat and bear long white hairs.

The plants are hermaphroditic or, rarely, dioecious. The small flowers are arranged in inflorescences of loose cymes, but also in rather dense heads or corymbs at the top of the stem or at its side. This family typically has reduced perianth segments called tepals. These are usually arranged in two whorls, each containing three thin, papery tepals. They are not bright or flashy in appearance, and their color can vary from greenish to whitish, brown, purple, black, or hyaline. The three stigmas are in the center of the flowers. As is characteristic of monocots, all of the flower parts appear in multiples of three.

The fruit is usually a nonfleshy, three-sectioned dehiscent capsule containing many seeds.

Domestic uses

The dried pith of plants of this family was used to make a type of candle known as a rushlight.

The soft rush (Juncus effusus) is called igusa in Japanese and is used to weave the soft surface cover of tatami mats.

In medieval Europe, loose fresh rushes would be strewn on earthen floors in dwellings for cleanliness and insulation. Particularly favored for such a purpose was Acorus calamus (sweet flag), but despite its alternate vernacular name "sweet rush", it is a plant from a different monocot order, Acorales.^[2]

References

1. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
2. Burton, Alfred. Rush-bearing: An Account of the Old Custom of Strewing Rushes: Carrying Rushes to Church; The Rush-Cart; Garlands in Churches; Morris-Dancers; The Wakes; The Rush. Manchester: Brook & Chrystal, 1891; pp. 1-12

External links

• Information and pictures
•  "Rush, the common name for species of juncus". The American Cyclopædia. 1879.
•  "Juncaceae". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.