Common rush
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Juncus effusus L.
Common name(s): common rush, soft rush, common soft rush
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
-
- in wet depression in blueberry field
-
- inflorescence appears to be 2/3 way up the side of the stem
Description:
– perennial
– reproduces by seed
-Flowers July to September.
-Stands l foot to 2 1/2 feet in height
-dense tufts of leaves at the base
-Stems are soft
-Flower head has many flowers, 1″ to 4″ high.
-the rootstock is stout, branching and proliferous.
– one of two genera of rushes in ME; Juncus is not hairy, the other (Luzula) is hairy
– may be confused with J. pylaei (also considered a variety of J. effusus) or J. conglomeratus; see left sidebar on Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-marshes
-meadows and fields
-wetlands
Acknowledgement(s):
Go Botany. “Juncus Effusus L.” Juncus Effusus (Common Soft Rush): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/juncus/effusus/.
Eric T. Doucette, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Biology, MA College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA (updated Feb 2018)