Juncus oxymeris

Pointed rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pointed rush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern coastal ranges, California Reef, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in swales, montane meadows, and damp, sunny ground at elevations below 2,100 meters. The plant produces green to light brown flowers with reddish to purple tips, developing in open clusters with ascending branches extending 15 to 30 centimeters. Growing with a creeping rhizome, this rush forms robust stems 30 to 150 centimeters tall with distinctively flat leaves 3 to 7 millimeters wide. Its leaves have overlapping bases with inconspicuous sheaths, spreading edge-on toward the stem. The fruit develops longer than the perianth, with a three-angled shape gradually tapering to a slender brown beak.

Habitat: Uncommon. Swales, montane meadows, damp, sunny ground

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRI, CaRF, SN, GV, TR, PR

California counties: Mendocino, Fresno, Los Angeles, Alameda, Butte, El Dorado, Inyo, Lake, Nevada, Placer, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Tuolumne, Madera, San Diego, Mariposa, Merced, Napa, Riverside, Santa Clara, Trinity, Kern, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Amador, Sacramento, Kings, Sutter, Solano, Sierra, Tehama, Plumas, Glenn, Colusa, Yuba, Shasta, Stanislaus, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Tulare, Yolo, Humboldt, Del Norte, Ventura

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