Juncus textilis

Mat or basket rush, Mat Rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mat or basket rush is a California native perennial found in southern Santa Lucia, Santa Rosa, and southwestern California excluding the Channel Islands in dry or moist soils at elevations below 1,800 meters. Flowering times are not specified, but the plant produces small flowers with green to light brown perianth parts 3.5 to 5 millimeters long. Growing 100 to 200 centimeters tall with a heavy, creeping rhizome, it develops cylindric stems 3 to 5 millimeters wide at the base. Its basal leaves are reduced to brown sheaths less than 18 centimeters long, with no true leaf blades. The plant produces lateral inflorescences with extremely variable branches and individual flowers, with a distinctive cylindric lowest bract that closely resembles the plant's stem.

Habitat: dry or moist soils

Elevation: < 1800 m

Bioregions: s SCoRO, SW (exc ChI).

California counties: Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Orange, Kern, San Diego, Merced, San Luis Obispo, Fresno

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