• You are here:
• Simple Key
• Grass-like plants
• All other grass-like plants
• Juncus balticus

Juncus balticus — Baltic rush

Facts

Baltic rush is native to salt marshes in coastal New England, but has recently spread inland along heavily-salted roadways. It was widely used by Native Americans for basket-making. The Northern Paiute ate the seeds and made the stems into a fermented drink.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), brackish or salt marshes and flats, fens, marshes, intertidal, subtidal or open ocean, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther color (dry)

  the anthers range in color from white to tan or yellow to yellow-brown

  Anther length

  1.2–2.2 mm

  Floral bristle color

  NA

  Floral bristle number

  • 0
  • NA

  Floral bristle relative length

  NA

  Floral bristles

  NA

  Floral scale hairs

  NA

  Floral scale length

  0 mm

  Floral scale nerves

  NA

  Flower number per cluster

  • 5-20
  • more than 20

  Inflorescence bract angle

  the bracts are vertical or angled only slightly outwards

  Inflorescence bract number

  there is just one bract on the inflorescence

  Inflorescence bract position (Sparganium)

  NA

  Inflorescence bracts

  there is only one bract, and it looks like a continuation of the stem

  Inflorescence branching

  the inflorescence is branched

  Inflorescence crowding

  • the inflorescence is at least somewhat spread out, with at least one branch coming from the main stem
  • the inflorescence is crowded together in one tight cluster

  Inflorescence position

  the inflorescence appears to come from the side of the plant because the involucral bract at its base looks like an extension of the main stem

  Inflorescence shape

  the aggregations within the inflorescence are roughly circular (not flattened) in cross-section

  Inflorescence type

  there are two or more flowers, spikes or flower clusters on a branched inflorescence

  Perianth composition

  the perianth is green or brown, with six sepal-like parts, and a leafy texture

  Stamen length

  1.4–2.7 mm

  Stamen number

  4-6

  Stigma number

  3

  Style division

  the top two thirds of the style is divided

  floral bristle barbs

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Achene beak length

  0 mm

  Achene surface texture

  NA

  Achene tubercle relative width

  NA

  Achene tubercle width

  0 mm

  Capsule relative length

  the capsule is about equal to the perianth

  Fruit cross-section

  the fruit is triangular to terete (circular) in cross-section

  Fruit length

  3.5–4.5 mm

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is a capsule, with at least three seeds in it

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)

  Locules in capsule

  • the capsule has three locules
  • the three internal walls do not meet in the center

  Seed length

  0.6–0.8 mm

  Seed tail relative length

  0.6–0.8 mm

  Seed tails

  there is no tail on the seeds

  Tubercle height

  0 mm

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Rhizome thickness

  4–6 mm

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Auricle length

  0 mm

  Auricle texture

  NA

  Auricles

  NA

  Leaf blade cross-section

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  0 mm

  Leaf blade width

  0 mm

  Leaf form

  all the leaves hold their form out of water

  Leaf position on plant

  the attachment points of all the leaves are at or near the base of the plant

  Leaf septa

  NA

  Leaf sheath hairs

  the leaf sheathes are without hairs

  Pedicel length (Typha)

  0 mm

  Stem leaf blade ligules

  NA

  Stem leaf blades

  there are no leaves on the main stem, or there is a small tooth or tiny blade, or a leaf sheath with no blade

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • brackish or salt marshes and flats
  • edges of wetlands
  • fens
  • intertidal, subtidal or open ocean
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • marshes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  20–100 cm

  Stem shape in cross-section

  the stem is round or oval in cross-section

  Stem texture near tip

  the stem feels smooth near the tip

  Stem thickness at midpoint

  1–3 mm

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae