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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. | |||||||||
| CONFUSING RUSH | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Juncus confusus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Confusing rush is a tufted plant that grows as tall as 50 cm from a densely branched rhizome. There are two to four basal leaves with rounded, ear-like lobes at the base. There are several heads in a crowded, branched inflorescence. Each of the heads contains three to 25 flowers. The main bract usually exceeds the inflorescence. At the base of each flower and above the flower stalk are two small bracts, called bracteoles. The tepals are dark green to blackish, usually with a brown midstrip. Each flower has six stamens and three stigmas. The tan coloured capsules are shorter than the tepals. The seeds are yellowish with a sharp point, but are lacking a tail. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Confusing rush grows on ravine slopes, in low meadows, and on open shores. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in southern Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland and Mixed Grassland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Confusing rush is vulnerable in Saskatchewan because it is rare or uncommon and regionally restricted to the southern part of the province. Local population sizes vary. Possible threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY CONFUSING RUSH | |||||||||
| * Are the capsules shorter than the tepals? * Are the tepals dark green to blackish with a brown midstrip? * Are there ear-like lobes at the base of the leaf rounded? * Did you find it in southern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found confusing rush! | |||||||||
