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Juncaceae

 
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Juncaceae
 
 
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The Juncaceae, the rush family, is a rather small monocot
Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
 flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 family. There are 8 genera
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 and about 400 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
. Many of these slow-growing plants superficially resemble grasses
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
, though are herb
Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
s or woody shrubs
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
, growing on infertile soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
s. Some may be found in temperate to frigid climates or on tropical mountains. They grow on wet or damp soils, others on dry soils. A few are annuals
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
, but most are perennials
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 and well-developed in a basal aggregation on an erect stem.






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The Juncaceae, the rush family, is a rather small monocot
Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
 flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 family. There are 8 genera
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 and about 400 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
. Many of these slow-growing plants superficially resemble grasses
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
, though are herb
Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
s or woody shrubs
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
, growing on infertile soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
s. Some may be found in temperate to frigid climates or on tropical mountains. They grow on wet or damp soils, others on dry soils. A few are annuals
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
, but most are perennials
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 and well-developed in a basal aggregation on an erect stem. They are alternate and tristichous (i.e. with 3 rows of leaves up the stem, with each row of leaves arising one-third of the way around the stem from the previous leaf). Only in the genus Distichia are the leaves distichous. The rushes of the genus Juncus
Juncus

Juncus is a genus in the plant family Juncaceae. It consists of 225 to 300 species of grassy plants commonly called rushes. They occur in all wet regions of the world, but rarely in the tropics....
 have flat, hairless leaves or cylindrical leaves. The leaves of the wood-rushes of the genus Luzula
Luzula

Luzula is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants the family Juncaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution, the highest species biodiversity being in temperate Asia and Europe....
 are always flat and bear long white hairs.

The plants are hermaphroditic or, rarely, dioecious
Dioecious

Dioecious - from Greek language for "two households" - refers to species of seed-bearing plants having separate male and female plants. That is, no individual plant of the species produces both microspores and megaspores; individual plants are either male or female ....
. The small and insignificant flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are arranged in inflorescences of loose cyme
Cyme

Cyme or CYME can refer to:* Cyme, a kind of Inflorescence#Organisation *Kymi, ancient Cumae, a city in Euboea, Greece*Cyme or Kymi, ancient Greek colony on the coast of Aeolia, present-day Namurt in Turkey...
s, but also in rather dense heads or corymbs at the top of the stem or at its side. Typical for this family are the tepal
Tepal

Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is usually used when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated....
s (or perianth segments). There is no clear distinction between petal
Petal

A petal is one member or part of the Corolla of a flower. The corolla is the name for all of the petals of a flower; the inner perianth whorl, term used when this is not the same in appearance as the outermost whorl and is used to attract pollinators based on its advertising coloration....
s and sepal
Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Sepals in a "typical" flower are green and lie under the more conspicuous petals. As a collective unit the sepals are called the Wiktionary:calyx, and the collection of petals is called the Wiktionary:corolla....
s. They are usually arranged with two whorl
Whorl

Whorl is a type of spiral pattern.Other meanings of whorl include:* Whorl , a single, complete 360? turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell...
s, each containing three thin, papery tepals. They are not brightly colored and their color can vary from greenish to whitish, brown, purple, black, or hyaline. There are three stigmas in the center of the flowers. As is characteristic of monocots, everything is a multiple of three.

The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is usually a non-fleshy, three-sectioned dehiscent capsule
Capsule (fruit)

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a dehiscent structure composed of two or more carpels, that, at maturity, split apart to release the seeds within....
 containing many seeds.

The dried pith
Pith

Pith is a light substance that is found in vascular plants. It consists of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, and is located in the center of the Plant stem....
 of plants of this family was used to make a type of candle
Candle

A candle is a source of light, and sometimes a source of heat, consisting of a solid block of fuel and an embedded candle wick.Today, most candles are made from paraffin....
 known as a rushlight
Rushlight

A rushlight is a type of candle formed using the dried pith of the Juncaceae as its wick. The green Epidermis or rind is peeled off to reveal the inner pith, aside from a single strip left to provide support....
.

The rush plant is called 'igusa' in Japanese and is used to weave the soft surface cover of tatami mats.

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