Toad Rush - cosmopolitan (Juncus bufonius)

Family: Juncaceae (Rush family).

Cosmopolitan. Local populations may be native or not.

Occurrence: It is a widespread plant often growing on damp mud-flats, or in streams.

Identification:

• it is a tufted plant, usually to 10-20cm
• the leaves are flat or channelled
• the flowers grow singly along the branches.

The tufted branches, the semi-sprawling habit, and the flower arrangement are distinctive. Jointed Rush (J. articularis) is also a sprawling rush, but the stems are longer, and the flowers are in tight balls.

bufonius: living in damp places, like a toad.

Photos 1: Entire plant. 2: Flowering branch. Forest Creek.