Spiny Rush

Juncus acutus

"Juncus acutus", the spiny rush, sharp rush or sharp-pointed rush, is a flowering plant in the monocot family Juncaceae. It is native to the Americas, Northern and Southern Africa, Western and Southern Europe and West Asia, and is found in a variety of wet habitats, such as bogs, fens, meadows, and salt marshes, and along the edges of ponds and lakes.
Juncus acutus Clot de Galvany, Alicante. Fall,Geotagged,Juncus acutus,Spain

Appearance

"Juncus acutus" is a brown and green
tussock-forming
perennial that can grow to 1.5 metres
tall in all kinds of soils,
in areas which go from extremes in flood and dry like dunes
or that just stay wet like lowland grassland and grassy woodland, riparian vegetation, freshwater wetland, and saline and subsaline wetlands.
;Stems and leaves: Pith filled stems and leaves arise from the base at different angles giving the plant a globe shape. The leaves form a basal sheath around the flower stem leaves and end with a stiff sharp point.
;Flowers: The flower stems are 2 millimetres to 4 millimetres in diameter and 4 centimetres to 13 centimetres long and are similar to the leaves. They emerge from the base at all angles and each have 1 - 6 flowers. Each flower has 6 stamens and 4 centimetres to 25 centimetres long bracts that terminate in a stiff and sharp point. The flowers are hermaphrodite and are pollinated by the wind.
;Fruits and reproduction: Fruits are oval 3-celled brown capsules 4 millimetres to 6 millimetres. The 1.2 millimetres to 2 millimetres long brown seeds have a tail at each end.
;Roots: Short and robust rhizomes.
Juncus acutus Lake Kournas, Crete. Geotagged,Greece,Juncus acutus,Spring

Naming

:In Brazil, "J. acutus" has been observed on the Santa Catarina coast living in communities with:
⟶ *"Ipomoea pes-caprae"
⟶ *"Hydrocotyle bonariensis"
⟶ *"Senecio crassiflorus"
⟶ In a natural shallow depression in the Murray River floodplain in South Australia:
⟶ *"Muehlenbeckia florulenta"
⟶ *"Atriplex semibaccata"
⟶ *"Halosarcia pergranulata" ssp. "pergranulata"
⟶ *"Mimulus repens"
⟶ *"Ludwigia peploides" ssp. "montevidensis"
⟶ *"Phragmites australis"
⟶ *"Paspalum vaginatum"

Distribution

Found principally in low-lying damp, low fertility areas like sandy sea shores and dune slacks and coastal flats, occasionally in salt marshes and disturbed saline areas, mine dumps, lowland grassland and grassy woodland, riparian vegetation, freshwater wetland, and saline and subsaline wetlands
⟶ Palearctic:
─⟶ Northern Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco
─⟶ Western Asia: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey
─⟶ Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
─⟶ Northern Europe: British Isles
─⟶ Southeastern Europe: Albania, Crete, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Montenegro, Sardinia, Serbia, Sicily, Malta
─⟶ Southwestern Europe: Azores, Balearic Islands, Corsica, France, Portugal, Spain
⟶ Nearctic:
─⟶ Northern America: Baja California

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassMonocots
OrderPoales
FamilyJuncaceae
GenusJuncus
SpeciesJ. acutus
Photographed in
Spain
Greece