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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. | |||||||||
| CHESTNUT RUSH | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Juncus castaneus ssp. castaneus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Chestnut rush grows as tall as 40 cm from long rhizomes. The stems are solitary and stiffly erect. These plants have three to five leaves with rounded ear-like lobes at the base of the leaf. The inflorescence is made of one to three heads, the lowest of which is nearly stalkless. The primary bracts are somewhat inflated and are usually longer than the inflorescence. The inner tepals are slightly shorter than the outer tepals and are chestnut brown in colour. Each flower has six stamens and three stigmas. The chestnut brown capsules are slightly longer than the tepals. The seeds are pale yellow and have tails. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Chestnut rush grows in treed bogs, tundra, alpine meadows, gravel beaches, and clay banks. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in northern Saskatchewan in the Selwyn Lake Upland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Chestnut 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 CHESTNUT RUSH | |||||||||
| * Are the capsules slightly longer than the tepals? * Are the tepals chestnut coloured? * Are the ear-like lobes at the base of the leaf rounded? * Did you find it in northern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found chestnut rush! | |||||||||
