Juncus macrophyllus

Long-leaved rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Long-leaved rush is a California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada, southern Coast Ranges, southern California, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and desert mountains at elevations of 700 to 2,600 meters in wet slopes and creekbank habitats. Its flowers are reddish-brown with distinctive red-streaked sepal midveins, clustered in 8 to 30 groups with 3 to 5 flowers per cluster. Growing with loose, clumped stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall, it develops from a short rhizome with thick, somewhat channeled leaves. Its leaves are primarily basal, approximately 1.5 to 3 millimeters wide, with membranous sheath appendages 1.5 to 3.4 millimeters long. The fruit is shiny brown, obovoid, and slightly beaked, generally equal to or shorter than the perianth.

Habitat: Uncommon. Wet slopes, creekbanks

Elevation: 700-2600 m

Bioregions: s SN, SCoRO, SCo, TR, PR (exc SnJt), DMtns

California counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Nevada, Plumas, Orange, 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.