The World Flora Online

Herbs, very rarely shrublike, perennial or annual, tufted or with erect or creeping rhizome. Stems erect, terete or laterally flattened. Leaves occasionally reduced to a bladeless or nearly bladeless sheath at base of stem (cataphyll); leaf sheath often shortly prolonged on both sides into a pair of auricles at leaf blade juncture; leaf blade of basal and cauline leaves usually linear or filiform, grasslike and flat, or terete, glabrous except for pilose margin on some grasslike blades. Inflorescence a panicle, corymb, or 1-flowered. Flowers bisexual or unisexual and plants dioecious, mostly wind pollinated, regular, usually small, usually 1- or 2-bracteolate at base. Perianth segments (3 or)6, in (1 or)2 whorls, free, usually greenish to brownish or blackish, rarely white or yellowish, glumelike. Stamens 3 or 6, if 6 then 3 opposite outer perianth segments; filaments thin; anthers basifixed, 2-loculed, dehiscing by longitudinal slits; pollen grains in tetrads. Ovary superior, 1-loculed, or divided by 3 septa and 3-loculed, or incompletely septate; ovules 3 and inserted at base of ovary, or numerous and biseriate on 3 parietal placentas. Stigmas 3, papillose. Fruit a capsule, 1--3-valved, loculicidal. Seeds globose, ovoid, or fusiform, small, sometimes appendaged; appendage caudate; embryo straight, minute, enclosed by fleshy endosperm.

Leaves mostly in a basal tuft, grass-like, linear or filiform, sheathing at the base or reduced to a sheath, sheaths open or closed Perennial or annual herbs Ovary superior, 1-celled or 3-celled; styles and stigmas 1 or 3 Stamens 6 or 3, free; anthers 2-celled, basifixed, opening lengthwise; pollen in tetrads Perianth-segments 6, in 2 whorls, or rarely only 3, usually glumaceous Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, usually very small Seeds sometimes tailed, with a small straight embryo in the middle of endosperm Fruit a dry capsule Ovules ascending or parietal, 3 or more Perennial or annual herbs Ovary superior, 1-celled or 3-celled; styles and stigmas 1 or 3 Stamens 6 or 3, free; anthers 2-celled, basifixed, opening lengthwise; pollen in tetrads Perianth-segments 6, in 2 whorls, or rarely only 3, usually glumaceous Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, usually very small Seeds sometimes tailed, with a small straight embryo in the middle of endosperm Fruit a dry capsule Ovules ascending or parietal, 3 or more

Plantes'herbacées vivaces ou annuelles, rarement arbustives (Prionium), souvent avec rhizomes ou stolons; racines fasciculées; tiges dressées ou ascendantes, cylindriques ou plus rarement comprimées.'Feuilles'alternes, engainantes à la base, planes, canaliculées ou cylindriques, parfois cataphyllaires.'Inflorescences'terminales, souvent pseudo-latérales, en ombelles, panicules, corymbes ou anthèles, dont les dernières ramifications portent souvent des glomérules; plus rarement fleurs solitaires.'Fleurs'ordinairement ♀, rarement ♂ ♀ , trimères, actinomorphes, anémogames; périgone à 6 tépales libres ou un peu connés à la base, disposés en 2 verticilles, glumacés ou scarieux, rarement subligneux ( Marsippospermum ), verdâtres ou brunâtres, rarement blancs, jaunes ou pourpres; étamines 6 ou 3 par avortement du verticille interne, libres, ordinairement plus courtes que les tépales; anthères basifixes, introrses, à déhiscence longitudinale; pollen en tétrades; ovaire supère, 3-carpellaire, 1-loculaire à placentation pariétale ou basilaire, ou 3-loculaire à placentation axile; style ± long, parfois nul; stigmates 3, filiformes, longuement papilleux; ovules 1-3-∞, anatropes, dressés, bitégumentés.'Capsules'1- ou 3-loculaires, loculicides, 1-3-polyspermes.'Graines ovoïdes ou obovoïdes, parfois fusiformes, à sommet parfois apiculé; embryon droit, submarginal, à cotylédon terminal; albumen amylacé.\n\t\t\tFamille comprenant 8 genres et environ 315 espèces, surtout répandue dans les régions tempérées des deux hémisphères, faiblement représentée dans les régions tropicales. Quelques espèces sont ornementales au bord des étangs. Pour la Flore : 2 genres et 6 espèces.

Annual or perennial herbs, rarely shrubs Roots fibrous Stems erect, cylindric or rarely compressed, naked or leafy, sometimes rhizomatous or stoloniferous, and then horizontal or ascending Flowers small, regular, hermaphrodite; rarely the plants dioecious Carpels 3, joined; ovary superior, 1- or 3-locular; style rarely absent; stigmas 3 Fruit a loculicidal capsule Perianth-segments 6, in two series, subequal, glumaceous, green or brown, usually membranous at the edges Stamens 6, opposite and shorter than the perianth-segments, the 3 inner sometimes absent; filaments linear or triangular; anthers basifixed, 2-thecous, introrse, dehiscing longitudinally Seeds 3 or many, ovoid to obovoid, apex sometimes apiculate, base sometimes tailed Inflorescence terminal, often pseudo-lateral, compound or rarely simple with one flower, umbellate, paniculate, the flowers solitary or in capitula (heads); bracts leaf-like, scarious or membranous, persistent; bracteoles sometimes present Leaves grass-like or cylindric, sheathing at the base, sometimes reduced to cataphylls; sheaths open and sometimes auriculate, or closed Roots fibrous Stems erect, cylindric or rarely compressed, naked or leafy, sometimes rhizomatous or stoloniferous, and then horizontal or ascending Flowers small, regular, hermaphrodite; rarely the plants dioecious Carpels 3, joined; ovary superior, 1- or 3-locular; style rarely absent; stigmas 3 Fruit a loculicidal capsule Perianth-segments 6, in two series, subequal, glumaceous, green or brown, usually membranous at the edges Stamens 6, opposite and shorter than the perianth-segments, the 3 inner sometimes absent; filaments linear or triangular; anthers basifixed, 2-thecous, introrse, dehiscing longitudinally Seeds 3 or many, ovoid to obovoid, apex sometimes apiculate, base sometimes tailed Inflorescence terminal, often pseudo-lateral, compound or rarely simple with one flower, umbellate, paniculate, the flowers solitary or in capitula (heads); bracts leaf-like, scarious or membranous, persistent; bracteoles sometimes present Leaves grass-like or cylindric, sheathing at the base, sometimes reduced to cataphylls; sheaths open and sometimes auriculate, or closed

Fls perfect or seldom unisexual, ordinarily (including all our spp.) trimerous; perianth regular, small, mostly green or brown, ± chaffy or scale-like, the sep and pet essentially alike but in 2 separate whorls, commonly persistent into fr; stamens 6 or 3; ovary superior, with 3 axile to parietal or basal placentae; stigmas 3; fr a loculicidal, 3-valved capsule; embryo small, straight, monocotyledonous, embedded in the starchy endosperm; herbs of sedge-like aspect, lfless or with narrow, terete or grass-like lvs. 8/300.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Buchenau, F. 1890. Monographia Juncacearum. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 12: 1--495, 622--623, plates 1--3. Buchenau, F. 1906. Juncaceae. In: H. G. A. Engler, ed. 1900--1953. Das Pflanzenreich.... 107 vols. Berlin. Vol. 25[IV, 26], pp. 1--284.

Herbs, perennial, occasionally annual, usually rhizomatous, orsometimes cespitose. Culms round or flat. Leaves mostly basal; sheath margins fused or overlapping, often with 2 earlike extensions (auricles) at blade junction; blade flat or round, glabrous or margins hairy. Inflorescences of headlike clusters or single flowers variously arranged; bracts subtending inflorescence 1 or more2, mostly leaflike; bracts subtending inflorescence branches 1--2, reduced; bracteoles subtending solitary flower 0--2, translucent, reduced. Flowers usually bisexual, radially symmetric; sepals and petals similar, persistent, green to brown or purplish black; stamens usually 3 or 6; anthers persistent, linear; pistils 1; ovaries superior, locules 1 or 3, placentas 1 and basal or 3 and axile or parietal; stigmas generally longer than styles. Fruits capsules, loculicidal. Seeds 3--many, often with white appendages on 1 or both ends.