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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE RUSH FAMILY | |||||||||
| The rushes are generally widespread in Saskatchewan in moist habitats such as lakeshores, riverbanks, and sloughs. These plants may look like grasses because the leaves are long and linear. The leaves are in three vertical rows, instead of two vertical rows like in the grasses. The flowers are small and plain. The tepals are usually green or brown and papery in texture. The flowers are clustered into heads and then into branched or unbranched inflorescences. The inflorescences are subtended by bracts. In some species, the bracts are leaf-like and make the inflorescence look like it is coming from the side of the stem instead of the top. The fruit is a capsule. | |||||||||
| NORTHERN WHITE RUSH | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Juncus albescens | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Northern white rush grows to 35 cm tall from rhizomes. The stems are usually in small tufts. There are two to four basal leaves with ear-like lobes at the base. The blade is deeply channelled and is 2 to 10 cm long. The heads are solitary and usually contain two or three flowers. The main bract is brownish and is about as tall as the inflorescence. The inner and outer tepals are about the same length. They are pale brown to whitish or pinkish in colour. Each flower has six stamens, three stigmas, and a superior ovary. The capsules are barely longer than the tepals and the tip is nearly square. The seeds are tan coloured with short, white tails. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Northern white rush has been found in muskegs, drainage channels, and tundra boulder fields. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in northern Saskatchewan in the Athabasca Plain and Selwyn Lake Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Northern white rush is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is rare and regionally restricted to the northern part of the province. No immediate threats are known at the present time. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY NORTHERN WHITE RUSH | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves all basal and grass-like? * Are the tepals light coloured? * Are there ear-like lobes at the base of the leaf? * Did you find it in northern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found northern white rush! | |||||||||
