Juncus patens
Encyclopedia
Juncus patens is a species of rush
Juncus
Juncus is a genus in the plant family Juncaceae. It consists of some 200 to 300 or more species of grassy plants commonly called rushes...

 known by the common name spreading rush. It is native to the western United States from Washington to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and its range may extend into Mexico. It grows in marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es and other wet areas. This is a perennial herb forming narrow, erect bunches of stems. The stems are thin, gray-green, often somewhat waxy, and grooved, and grow 30 to 90 centimeters in maximum height. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 sprouts from the side of the stem rather than its tip. It holds many flowers, each of which has short, narrow, pointed tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...

s and six stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...

s. The fruit is a spherical red or brown capsule which fills and bulges from the dried flower remnants when mature.

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