Juncus
Juncus is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae,[2] containing around 340 species.[1] DescriptionRushes of the genus Juncus are herbaceous plants that superficially resemble grasses or sedges.[3] They have historically received little attention from botanists; in his 1819 monograph, James Ebenezer Bicheno described the genus as "obscure and uninviting".[4] The form of the flower differentiates rushes from grasses or sedges. The flowers of Juncus comprise five whorls of floral parts: three sepals, three petals (or, taken together, six tepals), two to six stamens (in two whorls) and a stigma with three lobes.[3] The stems are round in cross-section, unlike those of sedges,[3] which are typically somewhat triangular in cross-section.[5] In Juncus section Juncotypus (formerly called Juncus subg. Genuini),[6] which contains some of the most widespread and familiar species, the leaves are reduced to sheaths around the base of the stem and the bract subtending the inflorescence closely resembles a continuation of the stem, giving the appearance that the inflorescence is lateral.[7] Distribution and ecologyJuncus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species found throughout the world, with the exception of Antarctica.[2] They typically grow in cold or wet habitats, and in the tropics, are most common in montane environments.[3] Fossil recordSeveral fossil fruits of a Juncus species have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.[8] Classification The genus Juncus was first named by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 Species Plantarum. The type species of the genus was designated by Frederick Vernon Coville, who in 1913 chose the first species in Linnaeus' account, Juncus acutus.[6] Juncus can be divided into two major groups, one group with cymose inflorescences that include bracteoles, and one with racemose inflorescences with no bracteoles.[6] In 2013 the genus Oreojuncus was separated from Juncus. In 2022 Viktorie Brožová et al. published a phylogenetic analysis of the cyperids (families Juncaceae, Cyperaceae, and Thurniaceae) which found Juncus to be paraphyletic, and the authors proposed that six new genera, Alpinojuncus, Agathryon, Australojuncus, Boreojuncus, Juncinella, and Verojuncus, be split from Juncus.[9] As of July 2025 Plants of the World Online accepts Juncinella but treats the others as synonyms of Juncus.[1] The genus is divided into the following subgenera and sections:[6]
SpeciesSelected Juncus species  J. inflexus  J. jacquinii  J. squarrosus  J. trifidus As of July 2025, Plants of the World Online accepts 342 species:[1]
Formerly placed here
References
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Index:
pl ar de en es fr it arz nl ja pt ceb sv uk vi war zh ru af ast az bg zh-min-nan bn be ca cs cy da et el eo eu fa gl ko hi hr id he ka la lv lt hu mk ms min no nn ce uz kk ro simple sk sl sr sh fi ta tt th tg azb tr ur zh-yue hy my ace als am an hyw ban bjn map-bms ba be-tarask bcl bpy bar bs br cv nv eml hif fo fy ga gd gu hak ha hsb io ig ilo ia ie os is jv kn ht ku ckb ky mrj lb lij li lmo mai mg ml zh-classical mr xmf mzn cdo mn nap new ne frr oc mhr or as pa pnb ps pms nds crh qu sa sah sco sq scn si sd szl su sw tl shn te bug vec vo wa wuu yi yo diq bat-smg zu lad kbd ang smn ab roa-rup frp arc gn av ay bh bi bo bxr cbk-zam co za dag ary se pdc dv dsb myv ext fur gv gag inh ki glk gan guw xal haw rw kbp pam csb kw km kv koi kg gom ks gcr lo lbe ltg lez nia ln jbo lg mt mi tw mwl mdf mnw nqo fj nah na nds-nl nrm nov om pi pag pap pfl pcd krc kaa ksh rm rue sm sat sc trv stq nso sn cu so srn kab roa-tara tet tpi to chr tum tk tyv udm ug vep fiu-vro vls wo xh zea ty ak bm ch ny ee ff got iu ik kl mad cr pih ami pwn pnt dz rmy rn sg st tn ss ti din chy ts kcg ve
