THE RUSH FAMILY (Juncaceae)

The rush family is a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants of eight genera and about 400 species. Members are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range of moisture conditions. The most well-known and largest genus is Juncus. Most of the Juncus species grow exclusively in wetland habitats. A few rushes are annuals, but most are perennials.

The dried pith of plants of this family was used to make a type of candle known as a rushlight. The soft rush (Juncus effusus) is called igusa in Japanese and is used to weave the soft surface cover of tatami mats. In medieval Europe, loose fresh rushes would be strewn on earthen floors in dwellings for cleanliness and insulation.

The leaves are evergreen and well-developed in a basal aggregation on an erect stem. They are alternate, each leaf arising one-third of the way around the stem from the previous leaf. The rushes of the genus Juncus have flat, hairless leaves or cylindrical leaves. The leaves of the wood-rushes (Luzula) are always flat and bear long white hairs. The plants are bisexual or, rarely, male and female flowers grow on different plants. The small and insignificant flowers are arranged in inflorescences of loose clusters, but also in rather dense heads or at the top of the stem or at its side. This family typically has reduced and undistinguishable petals and sepals called tepals, usually arranged in two whorls of 3. They are thin, papery, not bright in appearance, and their colour can vary from greenish to whitish, brown, purple, black, or hyaline. The three stigmas are in the centre of the flowers. As is characteristic of monocots, all of the flower parts appear in multiples of three. The fruit is usually a non-fleshy, three-sectioned dehiscent capsule containing many seeds.

(source: Wikipedia)