Juncus dubius

Mariposa rush, Mariposa Rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mariposa rush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, Santa Barbara, Peninsular Ranges, and eastern Mojave Desert in wet places at elevations below 2,000 meters. Growing densely matted with stout rhizomes, this rush forms stems 15 to 70 centimeters tall with few cauline leaves and prominent scarious sheath appendages 4 to 6 millimeters long. Its cylindric leaves have complete crosswalls, creating a distinctive growth pattern. The plant produces flower clusters with 4 to 10 flowers, where perianth parts are approximately 2.5 to 3 millimeters long and bristle-tipped. Its fruit is slightly longer than the perianth and three-sided, with tiny obovate seeds featuring minute appendages.

Habitat: Wet places

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, CaRF, n&ampc SNH, ScV, SnFrB, SCoRO, SnGb, PR, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, San Diego, Butte, Mono, Orange, Tulare, Alameda, Lassen, Marin, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Inyo, Los Angeles, Riverside, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Madera, Lake, Kern, Tehama, Shasta, Yuba, Plumas, Tuolumne, Merced, Fresno, Napa, Del Norte, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, Ventura

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