Juncus fontanesii | |
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Scientific classification
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Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Juncaceae |
Genus: | Juncus |
Species: | J. fontanesii
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Binomial name | |
Juncus fontanesii J.Gay ex Laharpe
[1]
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Juncus fontanesii, also known as Desfontaines' rush, is a species of rush in the family Juncaceae.
Resembling a J. articulatus with sprawling stems, or for ssp. brachyanthus mat-forming.
Inflorescence is a lax display of spherical heads of flowers.
The leaves are tubular with inner cross divisions chambering the leaf into long sections very obvious when opened or dried; there are no lengthwise divisions.
The stems, as well as upright ones, sprawl on the ground and in the case of ssp. fontanesii these ground stems are conspicuously long (to 2 m) and frequent, for the others they are at most few, though there are underground rhizomes.
The fruit capsule is conspicuously longer than the 6 tepals and for ssp pyramidatus and ssp kotschyi is contracted at the top with a sizeable tip (like J. articulatus but clearly longer, 0.5-1(1.5) mm) whilst for ssp. fontanesii the fruit tip gradually tapers (1–2 mm).
The tepals are rather greenish with narrowly acutely pointed tips (not rounded), with the inner 3 tepals longer than the outer 3 (in contrast to J. articulatus where longer tepals are the outer). They are over 3mm (except ssp. brachyanthus).
ssp. kotschyi is small (8-15 (rarely 25) cm) with tepals with broad pale margins (ssp. pyramidalis very narrow pale margins).
Occasional intermediates between ssp. fontanesii and ssp. pyramidatus are found from Italy eastwards.
This is a Mediterranean/West-Asian species; outside that range there may be species resembling it. [2] [3]