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Synonyms: Prioniaceae S. L. Munro & H. P. Linder
Common name: Rush Family.
Number of genera 8. Number of species 325.
Angiosperm. Liliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; loculicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded (-many); 1-seeded (-many); 3-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex beaked, or not beaked; wall hard, or chartaceous (Luzula); dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp brown (all shades); dull, or shiny; durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; without grooves; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent, or present; an arillike structure. Arillike structure falling with seed an elaisome (Luzula). Seed minute, or larger than minute; less than 1 mm long to 1 to less than 5 mm long; 0.3–5 mm long; ovate, or fusiform, or circular, or sectoral shape, or irregular, or angular, or elliptic; in transection terete; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; with winglike beak, or without winglike beak; with caudate appendage(s), or without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; loose, or tight; dull, or shiny; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate, or rugose, or striate (longitudinally); without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; blue; membranous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted, or becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Hilum punctate. Endosperm development helobial, or nuclear; copious; fleshy-firm; smooth; with starch; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve, or undifferentiated from food reserve; well developed, or rudimentary; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.2–0.3 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric, or peripheral; linear, or miniature; lenticular; linear; straight; parallel to seed length; lying along one side of endosperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleoptile; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 1 cotyledon, or acotyledonous. Cotyledons one and terminal with lateral plumule; not modified into scutellum; not circinately coiled.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Spjut did not score the indehiscent fruit for Oxychloa which Goldberg labelled a nutlet. Is Oxychloa fruit a nuculanium? Fruit of Oxychloa somewhat cartilaginous pericarp hard to thin and parchmentlike. Embryo 1.3–2 times longer than wide. Seed with one end prolonged into a narrow, conical white appendage.
Weed information
1 or more USA state noxious weeds.
USA states and territories with listed noxious weeds: Puerto Rico (PR).
USA state and territory noxious weeds: -- Juncus effusus L.: USA state noxious weed: PR●. -- Symbols: ªaquatic weed; ●terrestrial weed; °weed in seed. -- Last updated September 2008.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Juncus balticus Willd. -- Juncus bufonius L. -- Juncus effusus L. -- Juncus L. spp. -- Juncus tenuis Willd. -- Luzula DC. spp. -- Luzula sylvatica (Huds.) Gaudin -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Juncus articulatus L.w -- Juncus decipiens (Buchenau) Nakai included in Juncus effusus L.-- Juncus effusus L.w -- Luzula campestris (L.) DC.w -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Distichia Nees & Meyen -- Juncus L. -- Luzula DC., nom. cons. -- Marsippospermum Desv. -- Oxychloe Phil. -- Patosia Buchenau -- Prionium E. Mey. -- Rostkovia Desv.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 1129. Brooks, R.E. & C. Kuhn. 1986. Seed morphology under SEM and light microscopy in Kansas Juncus (Juncaceae). Brittonia 38:201–209.
General references
Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Dahlgren, R.M.T., H.T. Clifford and P.F. Yeo. 1985. The families of the monocotyledons, 520 pp. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Gaertner, J. 1788–1805. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. The Author, Stuttgart, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R. and C.A. Ritchie. 1988. Identification of disseminules listed in the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1719:1–313, Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, LeMaout, E. and J. Decaisne. 1876. A general system of botany, 1,065 p. Longmans, Green, and Co., London, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Dahlgren et al., Cronquist. Seed illustration(s): Gunn & Ritchie, Brooks & Kuhn (1986). Embryo illustration(s): Gunn & Ritchie, LeMaout & Decaisne.
• Fruit. 1 of 4. Juncus sarophorus L. A. S. Johnson: fruiting head. • Fruit. 2 of 4. Juncus sarophorus L. A. S. Johnson: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 3 of 4. Juncus sarophorus L. A. S. Johnson: seeds. • Embryo. 4 of 4. Juncus microcephalus Kunth: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
