Juncus luciensis

Santa lucia dwarf rush, Santa Lucia Dwarf Rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Santa lucia dwarf rush is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in the northern Sierra Nevada Highlands, Sierra Coastal Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in wet, sandy soils of seeps, meadows, vernal pools, streams, and roadsides at elevations of 300 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from spring to summer, this delicate rush produces tiny green flowers with dark red midvein tips, emerging individually or rarely in pairs on hair-like stems. Growing as a dense, pale yellow-green tufted plant just 0.4 to 6.2 centimeters tall, it forms compact clusters in moist habitats. Its basal leaves are very short, less than 1.5 centimeters long, with stems exceptionally thin at 0.1 to 0.3 millimeters wide. The fruit is pale green to pale red, approximately equal in length to the flower perianth, containing 2 to 3 chambers with small, obviously striated seeds.

Habitat: Wet, sandy soils of seeps, meadows, vernal pools, streams, roadsides

Elevation: 300-1900 m

Bioregions: CaRH, n SNH, SCoRO, TR, PR, MP.

California counties: Lassen, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Nevada, Plumas, Napa, San Benito, Modoc

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