Juncus microcephalus
Common names
South American rush
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Rushes & Allied Plants
Simplified description
Upright leafy rush to 90 cm tall, leaves round with internal cross walls (feels like clicks if you hold base of leaf between finger and thumb and slide up), plant with branched flowerheads made up of many heads of 4 to 10 reddish brown flowers/capsules (fruit).
Flower colours
Brown
Detailed description
Loosely or densely tufted perennial, bronze or occasionally red-purple at base. Stems 15-90 cm high, without internal transverse septa below inflorescence. Leaves terete or ± compressed, transversely-septate with septa usually evident externally. Inflorescence 6-24 cm long, very variable, open, much-branched, with 3-8-flowered clusters at ends of branches. Tepals 3-3.5 mm long, all ± equal, broad, acute. Stamens 6. Capsule 2.5-3.5 mm long, < to ± = tepals, broad, depressed at top, minutely mucronate, reddish-brown.
Similar taxa
Similar to other tubular septate leaved rushes, but is taller and stouter than most other species (except J. acutiflorus) and has flat topped casules with a mucronate tip.
Distribution
Common throughout the North Island and northern South Island, usually lowland.
Habitat
Aquatic: Emergent.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Taxonomic notes
Subgenus Juncus, Section Ozophyllum (Septati) Kirschner (2002: Juncaceae 2)
Ecology
Flowering
Spring to early summer
Fruiting
Summer to autumn
Year naturalised
1790
Origin
South America
Reason for introduction
Unknown, seed or soil contaminant.
Control techniques
Not controlled in New Zealand.
Life cycle and dispersal
Seed dispersed by animals, water or contaminated machinery.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
juncus: From the Latin jungere ‘to tie or bind’, the stems of some species being used to make cord (Johnson and Smith)
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
JUNMIC
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Healy, A.J.; Edgar, E. (1980). Flora of New Zealand, Volume III. Adventive Cyperaceous, Petalous and Spathaceous Monocotyledons. Government Printer, Wellington. 220pp.
Johnson PN, Brooke PA (1989). Wetland plants in New Zealand. DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington. 319pp.
Johnson, A. T. and Smith, H. A (1986). Plant Names Simplified: Their pronunciation, derivation and meaning. Landsman Bookshop Ltd: Buckenhill, UK.
Champion et al (2012). Freshwater Pests of New Zealand. NIWA publication. http://www.niwa.co.nz/freshwater-and-estuaries/management-tools/identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/freshwater-pest-species
Healy, A.J. (1982). Identification of weeds and clovers. New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Society Publication. Editorial Services Limited, Featherston. 299pp.
Kirschner, J. (compiler) (2002). Juncaceae 2: Juncus subg. Juncus, Species Plantarum: Flora of the World Part 7: 1-336.
Attribution
Factsheet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA). Features description from Healy and Edgar (1980).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.