JUNCUS ARCTICUS. NORTHERN HARD-RUSH.
JUNCUS arcticus; scapo tevissimo, capitulis compactis subsessilibus lateralibus, perianthii foliolis
ovato-lanceolatis, acutis, rigidis, capsula obovato-elliptica, paululum brevioribus.
JUNCUS arcticus. Willd. Sp. P I. vol. 2. p. 206. Wahl. FI. Lapp. p. 79. Svensk. Pot. ml. 3.
t. 479. Decand. FI. Fr. ed. 3. vol. 3. p . 165. FI. Gall. Syn .p . 152. Gaud. Agrost. vol. 2.
p. 214. Meyer Monogr. p. 18. Hook. FI. Scot. P . l .p . 104.
JUNCUS effusus, a. Linn. Sp. PL p . 464. FI. Dan. t. 1095.
JUNCUS culmo nudo acuminato ad basin squamato, floribus sessilibus. Linn. Lapp. n. JIG.
Class a n d O r d e r . HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[N a tu r a l O r d e r . JUNCEA2, Decand., Brown. JU N C I, Juss.~\
G e n , Ciia r . Perianthium sex-partitum, glumaceum. Capsula supera, trilocularis, trivalvis, valvis medio sep-
tiferis, seminiferis: semina numerosa. (Folia, si adsint, teretia, raro plana, glabra.)
G e n . Ch a r . Perianth o f six leaves, glumaceous. Capsule superior, three-celled, three-valved; the valves
bearing the partitions down their middle, to which the numerous seeds are fixed. (Leaves, if present, rounded,
rarely flattened, glabrous.)
R a d ix perennis, longe repens, horizontalis, lignosa,
crassiuscula, flexuosa, pallide fusca, hie illic
fibrosa.
Sc a p i numerosi, subpedales, erecti, teretes, lævissimi,
in tense virides, basi squamis tribus vel quatuor,
vaginantibus, fuscis, cylindricis instructi, apice
acuminati, subpungentes.
F lores latérales, capitulati, capitulis plerumque sessilibus,
nunc breviter pedunculati, bracteati, capitulis
tri— quinquefloris.
B rac teæ sub singulo pedunculo e t pedicello solitariæ,
ovatoe, membranaceæ, rufo-fuscæ ; florales binæ,
approximatæ, perianthio dimidio breviores.
P e r ia n t h ium profunde sex-partitum, segmentis vel foliolis
ovato-lanceolatis, acutis, intense purpureo-
fuscis, nitidis, margine diaphano, tribus exterio-
ribus linea media dorsali viridi notatis.
St am in a sex, perianthio breviora. Antheræ flavæ, ob-
longæ.
P istil lum : Germen ovatum, rotundatum, viride. Stylus
breviusculus. Stigmata tria, flava, spiraliter
torta.
Ca p su la obovato-elliptica, intense fusca, nitida, breviter
mucronata, perianthio paulo longior.
Sem in a numerosa, obovata, glabra, fusca, minutissima,
punctulata, punctis lineatim dispositis, apice intense
fusca.
Fig. 1. Small h,ead of flowers, with its bracteas. Fig. 2
Fig. 4. Capsule burst, and showing its seeds.
Root perennial, creeping for a considerable length, horizontal,
woody, rather thick, flexuose, pale brown,
here and there throwing out fibres.
Scap es numerous, about a foot high, erect, rounded,
quite smooth, dark green, furnished at the bases
with three or four sheathing, cylindrical, brown
scales, acuminated and almost prickly at the
points.
F lowers lateral, in heads, the heads generally sessile,
sometimes upon short footstalks, bracteated, the
heads three- to five-flowered.
B rac tea s solitary under each peduncle and pedicel,
ovate, membranaceous, reddish brown; the floral
ones in pairs, approximate, half as long as
the perianth.
P e r ia n t h deeply six-partite, the segments or leaflets
ovato-lanceolate, acute, o f a deep red brown,
shining, diaphanous at the margins, the three external
ones marked with a green line on the
middle o f the back.
St am e n s six, shorter than the perianth. Anthers
yellow, oblong.
P is t il : Germen ovate, rounded, green. Style rather
short. Stigmas three, yellow, spirally twisted.
Ca p su l e obovato-elliptic, deep brown, shining, shortly
mucronated, rather exceeding the perianth in
length.
Se ed s numerous, obovate, smooth, brown, very minute,
marked with fine dots which are set in a line, the
apex deep brown.
;. Single flower. Fig. 3. Small cluster of ripe capsules.
Fig. 5. Seeds:—all more or less magnified.
The only station in Britain for this rare species of Juncus, is that which I have already given in the Flora Sco-
tica, namely, the sands of Barry, near Dundee, in which place it was discovered by Mr. Drummond of the Forfar
Nursery. Of the identity of this plant with the true Juncus arcticus of the North of Europe, there can, I think,
be no doubt. I t accords in every particular with the descriptions of that plant in Willdenow and Wahlenberg, and
the figure in Flora Danica: and I possess specimens, named by the high authority of the late Professor Schmidt,
which I have compared and found to coincide with our Scotch ones.
I t is not a little remarkable that this species, which even in Lapland ascends upon the mountains to the ver<*e of
eternal snow, should in our more southern regions be found in a low valley near the sea, and there in great abundance.
Sir George Mackenzie discovered the Juncus arcticus in Iceland.