Juncus cooperi

Cooper's rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Cooper's rush is a native perennial found in the Desert bioregion in alkaline places at elevations below 700 meters. Flowering time not specified, this rush produces pale green-straw-colored flowers with white bractlets in small clusters. Growing in dense tufts 40 to 80 centimeters tall with a short, thick, many-branched rhizome, it forms large spongy roots. Its basal leaves are short, stiff, and cylindrical with sharp tips, with the lowest bract resembling the stem and extending beyond the flowering clusters. The fruit is narrowly oblong and three-angled, with seeds featuring a conspicuous white ridge and minute unequal appendages.

Habitat: Alkaline places

Elevation: < 700 m

Bioregions: D

California counties: Imperial, Inyo, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.