Rushes

The family Juncaceae covers forty-one species in Britain; thirty-one are true rushes belonging to the genus Juncus. The remaining ten species belong to the genus Luzula, which are the wood-rushes. Forty odd species comprising just two genera, an eminently manageable chunk of plants you might think. I agree that there aren't a great many species in this family, and most of them are natives with just a handful of naturalised alien species on offer. But Juncus rushes are considered to be 'a moderately challenging group' of plants to identify. I'm not particularly familiar with the majority of the British Juncaceae, which is a large part of the reason I'm undertaking this challenge. I'm going to be heavily reliant on field guides and my hand lens for many of the identification attempts. 

Two years ago, Tim Rich published Woodrushes of Britain & Ireland: A guide to identification of the genus Luzula (Juncaceae). I ordered my copy directly from Tim the day after it went live. I believe it sold out fairly quickly, but is currently available online in Kindle version. So far I have seen six out of the ten* Luzula species (*not including hybrid taxa), and I have Tim's fabulous guide to help me understand more of this family. However, to my mind there appears to be an obvious gap in the published BSBI Handbooks; namely the one dealing with the genus Juncus. I don't intend to risk my copy of Stace 4 by hauling it up a wet mountainside or dropping it into a peat bog, but I do have a battered copy of Stace 3 which lives in the car. I'm somewhat more willing to sacrifice it to the odd muddy splash, bit of dirt and squashed midge caught between the pages. It's precisely the kind of intense keying that Stace provides which will allow me to correctly identify the rushes I encounter. I also have an extremely battered copy of Poland's Veg Key, this and Stace should get me into the nitty gritty of the necessary features to look for on mystery plants. I've actually met John Poland a good few times, maybe I can bring the man as well as the book on the odd identification trip...

Juncus acutus - 7ft tall and viciously pointed. But a pleasingly simple rush to identify!

Scotland fares pretty well regards diversity of species for both true rushes and wood-rushes, in fact there are 15 Juncus and 6 Luzula recorded from right here on Skye. England and Wales hold more species between them than does Scotland, including a good number of southern specialities, but Scotland holds some extremely range-restricted species, usually at high altitude and a long way from the nearest road. So the rushes provide me a double-edged challenge, searching both Scottish highlands and English lowlands, necessitating forays south of the border several times throughout the course of the year. I'm far from convinced that my boss or my car will allow this, but if I can get away with it...

I've seen a little more than half of the British Juncus species. Happily this means I have plenty of target species still waiting to be discovered. And yet, I have a niggling feeling that I may have limited success bolstering my lowly tally by more than a handful of new species. The rushes may not, I fear, be in a rush to give themselves up too easily. 

  Species available (lifers in red) with a hyperlink to the relevant blog page alongside

Dwarf Rush

Sword-leaved Rush

Blunt-flowered Rush

Alpine Rush

Jointed Rush

Sharp-flowered Rush

Bulbous Rush

Pigmy Rush

Two-flowered Rush

Three-flowered Rush

Chestnut Rush

Sea Rush

Sharp Rush

Heath Rush

Slender Rush

Lax-flowered Rush

Dudley's Rush

Round-fruited Rush

Saltmarsh Rush

Three-leaved Rush

Leafy Rush

Toad Rush

Frog Rush

Baltic Rush

Thread Rush

Austral Rush

Tussock Rush

Hard Rush

Soft-rush

Compact Rush

Great Soft-rush

Southern Wood-rush

Hairy Wood-rush

Great Wood-rush

White Wood-rush

Snow-white Wood-rush

Field Wood-rush

Heath Wood-rush

Fen Wood-rush

Curved Wood-rush

Spiked Wood-rush