''Juncus prismatocarpus'', the branching rush, is a tufted,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the rush family,

Juncaceae Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble grasses and s ...

. Found in moist situations, often on sandy ground. Grass-like leaves are 10 to 40 cm long, 1.3 to 3.0 mm in diameter. Growing in many parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and south east Asia. The specific epithet is derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, meaning

prism Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...

shaped fruit. Due to its flattened unifacial leaves lacking adaxial identity, ''Juncus prismatocarpus'' has been used to study leaf development and faciality.Yin, X. and Tsukaya, H. (2019), Morphogenesis of flattened unifacial leaves in Juncus prismatocarpus (Juncaceae). New Phytol, 222: 1101-1111. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15649

References

prismatocarpus Plants described in 1810 Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of South Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of Tasmania Flora of New Zealand Flora of China Flora of Japan {{Poales-stub