Juncus squarrosus
Common name
Heath rush
Synonyms
Leafy rush to 35 cm tall, leaves wiry, mostly at the base of the plant, bending downwards just above the base, with flowerheads made up of a few clusters of 2 to 3 dark brown flowers/capsules (fruit).
Family
Juncaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Rushes & Allied Plants
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.
JUNSQU
Conservation status
Not assessed
Brief description
Leafy rush to 35 cm tall, leaves wiry, mostly at the base of the plant, bending downwards just above the base, with flowerheads made up of a few clusters of 2 to 3 dark brown flowers/capsules (fruit).
Distribution
Scattered but local abundant from Wairarapa and South Island from Marlborough to Otago and also Stewart Island.
Habitat
Peaty and other low nutrient (acid) sites.
Features
Perennial, very dense coarse tufts (15) -25-35 cm high; roots thick, spreading. Stems stout, stiffly erect. Leaves many, usually all basal, c. ½ length of stems, wiry, very stiff, channelled, abruptly reflexed from just above very wide sheath. Inflorescence 2-8-(12) cm long, strict, with few unequal branches. Flowers in clusters of 2-3-(6) at ends of branches. Tepals 5-6 mm long, ± equal, dark chestnut-brown even in young flowers, tips subulate to acute. Stamens 6, Capsule c. 5 mm long, slightly < tepals, obovate, very shortly mucronate, yellow-brown to dark chestnut-brown.
Similar taxa
No other rush has the reflexed stiff wiry leaves and the large dark chestnut brown capsules.
Flowering
Spring to early summer
Flower colours
Brown
Fruiting
Summer to autumn
Life cycle
Seed dispersed by animals, water or contaminated machinery.
Year naturalised
1970
Origin
Europe and North Africa
Reason for introduction
Unknown, seed or soil contaminant
Control techniques
Rarely controlled, but can be controlled manually, mechanically or herbicidally depending on situation, susceptible to grazing.
Etymology
juncus: From the Latin jungere ‘to tie or bind’, the stems of some species being used to make cord (Johnson and Smith)
Notes on taxonomy
Subgenus Agathyron, Section Steirochloa (Poiophylli) Kirschner (2002: Juncaceae 3)
Attribution
Facthseet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA). Featured description from Healy and Edgar (1980).
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
Kirschner, J. (compiler) (2002). Juncaceae 3: Juncus subg. Agathryon, Species Plantarum: Flora of the World Part 8: 1-192.
Healy, A.J. (1982). Identification of weeds and clovers. New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Society Publication. Editorial Services Limited, Featherston. 299pp.