Juncus psammophilus
L.A.S.Johnson Sand RushDensely tufted dioecious perennial with horizontal or ascending rhizomes. Cataphylls pinkish-brown to dark brown towards the base, to c. 30 cm long. Culms ± bright green, easily compressed, 65–200 cm high and 1.5–3.5(–4) mm diam.; striations 75–120, crowded and not strongly raised; pith often interrupted throughout or in part (sometimes only towards base), cobwebby in upper part; stomates sunken in pits. Inflorescence loose, many-flowered, flowers scattered along fine ± slightly flexuose branchlets; primary bract continuous with culm, to c. 40 cm long; prophylls present. Tepals stramineous or occasionally faintly reddish-tinged, 1.8–2.8 mm long in male flowers, 1.3–2.2 mm in female flowers; stamens 6, anthers c. 0.7–1 mm long, reduced to staminodes in female flowers. Capsules equal to or slightly longer or shorter than the tepals, stramineous to golden-brown, 1.5–2 mm long. Flowers recorded in Dec, seeds shed probably Jan.–Apr.
VRiv, Gold, CVU, NIS. Also Qld, NSW. A rare species in Victoria whose range is likely to have been reduced due to vegetation clearance. Extant populations are confined to Eucalyptus camaldulensis or sometimes Eucalyptus microcarpa woodlands along the sandy or silty banks of streams or in seasonal swamps and depressions. although rare, it may be locally dominant.
Albrecht, D.E. (1994). Juncus. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 197–233. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning