DACF Home → Bureaus & Programs → Maine Natural Areas Program → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Juncus torreyi
Juncus torreyi Coville
Torrey's Rush
- State Rank: SH
- Global Rank: G5
- State Status: Possibly Extirpated
Habitat: Low areas, sandy soils, shallow waters. Occasionally tidal shores.
Range: Quebec and New Brunswick west to British Columbia south to California, Texas, and Georgia.
Aids to Identification: Rushes are recognized by their grass-like appearance, flowers with 6 tepals, and 3-valved capsules. Juncus torreyi has flowers that are borne in a dense spherical cluster where the inner tepals are shorter than the outer tepals. The seeds lack a tail-like appendage. The leaves have auricles (a leaf-like appendage where the leaf meets the stem) that are up to 5 mm long.
Ecological characteristics: This plant was historically documented along a river in southern Maine.
Phenology: Fruiting July through August.
Family: Juncaceae
Synonyms: None noted.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has historically been documented from a total of 1 town in the following county: York.
Reason(s) for rarity: At northern limit of range, not rare southward.
Conservation considerations: Unknown, has not been seen recently.
For more information, see the Native Plant Trust's Conservation Plan for Juncus torreyi.