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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. | |||||||||
| AMERICAN BOG RUSH | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Juncus stygius var. americanus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| American bog rush grows to 40 cm tall from a short, slender rhizome. The stems are loosely tufted together. There are one to three basal leaves and one or two stem leaves with dry, papery, ear-like lobes at the base of the leaf. The leaves are thread-like and smaller up the stem. The flowers are in small, terminal heads. The inner and outer tepals are nearly the same size and are pale to reddish-brown in colour. Each flower has six stamens with the anthers much shorter than the filaments. The capsules are slightly longer than the tepals and end in an abrupt point. The seeds are pale yellow to tan and have a broad tail. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| American bog rush grows on boggy lake shores and in fens. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in northern to central Saskatchewan in the Mid-Boreal Upland, Churchill River Upland, Athabasca Plain, Tazin Lake Upland, and Selwyn Lake Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| American bog rush is vulnerable in Saskatchewan because it is rare or uncommon and most local populations are small. No threats are known or anticipated for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY AMERICAN BOG RUSH | |||||||||
| * Are the anthers shorter than the filaments? * Do the flowers have six stamens? * Are the tepals pale to reddish-brown? * Did you find it in northern to central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found American bog rush! | |||||||||
