Juncus acutus ssp. leopoldii

Identification

Gallery

Description

This plant has been given many names, among them Juncus acutus ssp. leopoldii and Juncus acutus var. sphaerocarpus. A large perennial with rounded, stiff, rigid leaves with sharp tips(spines). The flowers are insignificant. Native in alkaline, wet places in the interior and coastal salt marshes. Found on the central and south coast of California, the southern Channel Islands, and the Sonora Desert, its range extends to Baja, California, Arizona, South America, and South Africa. Juncus acutus ssp. leopoldii is listed as rare by CNPS, but occurs in many continents and is described by Kearney and Peebles in Arizona Flora as "a European rush of saline habitats". One of those plants that occurs in salt marshes throughout the world but someone has split into European forms and the-rest-of-the-world forms. Ours in California is supposed to be one of those rest-of-the-world forms. At any rate this rush is a useful plant if you're into basketry, have high salt soils, or want a dramatic plant along the edge of a wetland or pond.