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Support the Flora of the Southeastern US

2024 has been a banner year for making the best flora we can imagine. We've created:
With financial support from people like you, we are aiming even higher in 2025. Together we can accomplish all this: Vote on our 2025 priorities
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Click the number at the start of a key lead to highlight both that lead and its corresponding lead. Click again to show only the two highlighted leads. Click a third time to return to the full key with the selected leads still highlighted.

Key to Juncus, KEY B: Subkey in Juncus

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1 Flowers borne in heads (glomerules) of 2 or more, individual flowers not subtended by two bracteoles (in addition to the bracteole at the base of the pedicel); [subgenus Juncus, section Graminifolii].
image of plant
Show caption*© Bruce A. Sorrie
  2 Perianth 6-10 mm long; plant aquatic, submersed and sterile or emersed/stranded and fertile; stems weak, creeping, mat-forming
  2 Perianth < 6 mm long; plant of uplands or wetland margins, never submersed; stems erect, never creeping or mat-forming.
    3 Heads 1-5 (-10) per culm; [calcareous glades inland, east to GA and TN]
    3 Heads >9 per culm; [collectively widespread].
      4 Infructescence usually congested, (1.8-) 2.4-4.7 (-6.4) cm long; greatest distance between adjacent rhizome cataphylls (5.3-) 6.3-10.5 (-13.0) mm; rhizome width (measured between adjacent cataphylls) (0.8-) 1.0-1.4 (-1.9) mm
      4 Infructescence usually loose, (1.4-) 17.9-103.9 (-145) cm long; greatest distance between adjacent rhizome cataphylls (0.1-) 0.4-3.0 (-4.6) mm; rhizome width (measured between adjacent cataphylls) (0.4-) 1.0-3.5 (-4.5) mm.
        5 Widest leaf blade (2.6-) 3.1-4.5 (-7.0) mm wide; sheath of lowest leaf (3.2-) 4.3-7.8 (-9.7) cm long; tallest culm (27.2-) 50.8-81.2 (-100.7) cm; anthers (0.5-) 0.6-1.0 (-1.3) mm long, exserted; stem base (3.4-) 5.8-9.6 (-12.0) mm wide
        5 Widest leaf blade (1.3-) 1.6-2.6 (-3.5) mm wide; sheath of lowest leaf (1.7-) 2.2-3.8 (-4.7) cm long; tallest culm (19.2-) 26.0-44.0 (-56.8) cm; anthers (0.2-) 0.3-0.5 (-0.7) mm long, concealed by tepals; stem base (0.4-) 2.0-4.4 (-6.0) mm wide
1 Flowers borne singly on branches of inflorescence, individual flowers subtended by two bracteoles (in addition to the bracteole at the base of the pedicel).
          6 Plants annual, without coarse roots or persistent leaf bases; [subgenus Agathryon, section Tenageia]
             7 Capsule apex acute to obtuse, usually shorter than or equaling inner tepals; inner tepals acute to subobtuse
             7 Capsule apex more or less truncate, usually exceeding inner tepals; inner tepals obtuse
          6 Plants perennial, with coarse roots or persistent leaf bases.
image of plant
Show caption*© Thomas Gyselinck, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Thomas Gyselinck
               8 Auricles 3-6 mm long at summit of leaf sheath.
                 9 Capsules < 3/4 length of perianth; unbranched terminal sections of the inflorescence with 2-5 flowers, the longest distance between the adjacent flowers (excluding the peduncle) 6-11 mm
                 9 Capsules > 3/4 length of perianth; unbranched terminal sections of the inflorescence with 1-3 (-4) flowers, the longest distance between the adjacent flowers (excluding the peduncle) 0.5-5.5 mm
image of plant
Show caption*© Alan Weakley
               8 Auricles < 2 mm long or absent.
                   10 Cauline leaves present in addition to basal leaves; blades flat
                       12 Capsules 1-locular or pseudo-3-locular, widely elliptic to rounded, apex rounded; seeds 0.3-0.4 mm long
                          13 Perianth obtuse apically; capsule chestnut brown or darker; [exotic, ranging south to MD]
                              15 Perianth usually (3.3-) 4-5 (-5.7)mm long; flowers not secund; capsules ellipsoid or narrowly so
                                16 Anthers 0.6-0.9 mm long; auricles scarious, to 0.5 mm long; [of c. US, marginally in the w. fringe of our area]
                                16 Anthers 1.2-1.5 mm long; auricles scarious to membranous, 0.2-0.3 mm long; [of granitic flatrocks in the Piedmont from NC, SC, GA, and AL]
                                  17 Auricles whitish or straw colored, dull; perianth not spreading.
                                    18 Mature capsules pale brown or darker; [of the Coastal Plain]
                                    18 Mature capsules pale tan or darker; [of prairies and plains, east to KY, se TN]