''Juncus phaeocephalus'', the brown-headed rush, is native mostly along the coast of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, north to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. It grows in moist

seep A seep or flush is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer. Description Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their immediate above-ground location. ...

s and shallow wet soil.

Distribution

''Juncus phaeocephalus'' is native to the coastlines of California. It is distributed in meadows and borders of swamps and coastal regions from

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

and

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza) is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United Sta ...

and

. ;Habitat and ecology ''Juncus phaeocephalus'' grows along the coast in sand dunes, marshes and sloughs. Some of them also grow inland in wet grassy meadows, bogs, and along lakes and streams, such as in the

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

and

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa B ...

of Southern California. Its creeping rhizomes can spread across moist soil. This perennial plant can grow in elevations less than high.

Description

''Juncus phaeocephalus'' is a grasslike

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 ...

with stout, creeping

rhizomes In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. It has flattened stems that are two-edged and can grow up to tall. Its leaves are shorter than its flowering stems. Flowers have a brownish color and appear in spherical clusters at the tops of the flowering stems. Brown-head Rush may be mistaken for

sedges The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

or irises because of its stems and leaves. This plant produces many seeds. These

ovoid An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

seeds are about 0.6 mm in size.

Varieties

''Juncus phaeocephalus'' is a variable species in which several subspecific varieties have been characterized mainly on its branching patterns of the inflorescences.
Named varieties include: *''J. phaeocephalus'' var. ''phaeocephalus'' — plants with few, many-flowered heads. *''J. phaeocephalus'' var. ''paniculatus''— plants with many, few-flowered heads. *''J. phaeocephalus'' var. ''glomeratus'' — plants with many, many-flowered heads.

Poisonous plant

According to the tests made on the plants at the Chemistry Laboratory of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, ''Juncus phaeocephalus'' has as much as 30 ppm of

hydrocyanic acid Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ind ...

present in the plants. Due to its volatile nature, the concentration of this chemical might have been greater before the actual testing was made. One actual case of hydrocyanic acid poisoning from a common rush occurred in California. In December 1958, two dairy heifers were found dead on a farm land near

Petaluma Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village nam ...

, Sonoma County. The heifers died due to consumption of ''Juncus phaeocephalus'' plants. ''Juncus phaeocephalus'' grows in

plant communities A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant co ...

with ''

Verbena ''Verbena'' (), also known as vervain or verveine, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 150 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the Americas a ...

'' spp., ''

Mimulus guttatus ''Erythranthe guttata'', with the common names seep monkeyflower and common yellow monkeyflower, is a yellow bee-pollinated annual or perennial plant. It was formerly known as ''Mimulus guttatus''. ''Erythranthe guttata'' is a model organism f ...

'', ''

Eleocharis macrostachya ''Eleocharis macrostachya'' is a species of spikesedge known by the common name pale spikerush. It is widely distributed in North America and occurs in parts of South America. It is a plant of varied moist habitats, including freshwater lakes a ...

'' and ''

Agrostis densiflora ''Agrostis densiflora'' is a species of grass known by the common name California bent grass. It is endemic to the coast of northern and central California, United States, where it grows in habitat along the immediate coastline, such as dunes and ...

''.

References

External links

Jepson Manual treatment for ''Juncus phaeocephalus''Calflora database: ''Juncus phaeocephalus'' ''Juncus phaeocephalus'' — U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6311892 phaeocephalus Flora of the West Coast of the United States Flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Plants described in 1868 Flora without expected TNC conservation status