Juncus digitatus

Finger rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Finger rush is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in northern Sierra Nevada Foothills and Shasta County in vernal pools, swales, and volcanic seeps at elevations of 650 to 800 meters. Flowering in spring, this delicate rush produces small flowers with green to red midvein perianth parts arranged in clusters of one to eight per stem. Growing densely tufted and extremely slender with hair-like stems less than 0.4 millimeters wide, the plant reaches 4 to 10.5 centimeters tall and turns reddish when fruiting. Its basal leaves lack appendages, with a distinctive growth pattern of compact, clustered stems. The fruit develops linear-oblong and slightly curved, typically turning reddish and substantially exceeding the perianth length.

Habitat: Vernal pools, swales, volcanic seeps

Elevation: 650-800 m

Bioregions: CaRF (Shasta Co.), n SNF.

California counties: Shasta, Nevada

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