Juncus

Juncus 

(rush), a genus of perennial and, less commonly, annual herbs of the family Juncaceae. The leaves have unclosed sheaths; they are sometimes reduced simply to sheaths. The brownish or greenish flowers are bisexual and gathered in an inflorescence. The fruit is a trilocular capsule. There are numerous seeds, often having whitish lobes.

There are more than 250 species, distributed in temperate and cold regions and in high-mountain tropical and subtropical belts. The USSR has about 70 species, growing in swampy meadows, marshes, along bodies of water, and in other damp places. The most common species are the annual toad rush (J. bufonius) and the perennial round-fruited rush (J. compressus), mud rush (J. gerardii), jointed rush (J. articulatus), and hard rush (J. inflexus). Many species are used in hay for livestock. The three-leaved rush (J. trifidus) and the species J. filiformis serve as spring feed for deer in the tundra.

T. V. EGOROVA