Juncus xiphioides

Iris-leaved rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Iris-leaved rush is a California native perennial found in coastal, central, and desert regions including the North Coast, North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Central Western, Southwestern, White and Inyo Mountains, and Desert regions in wet places at elevations up to 2,100 meters. Flowering in the summer months, this rush produces green to reddish perianth parts creating delicate flower clusters. Growing 40 to 80 centimeters tall with a stout, creeping rhizome, it develops flat leaves 5 to 14 millimeters wide that curve gently towards the stem. Its leaves have distinctive crosswalls and long, curved tips that give the plant a graceful, grass-like appearance. The fruit is oblong with an abrupt or gradual beak, slightly longer than the surrounding perianth parts.

Habitat: Wet places

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoR, SN, GV, CW, SW, W&ampI, D

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

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