# Juncus effusus
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{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the rush family}}
{{Redirect|Common rush|the plant known as common rush in Australia and New Zealand|Juncus usitatus}}{{Redirect|Soft rush|the plant known as soft rush in North America|Juncus interior}}{{Speciesbox
|image = Juncus effuses.jpg
|genus = Juncus
|species = effusus
|authority = [L.](/source/Carl_Linnaeus)
|synonyms_ref = [{{cite web |work=Plants of the World Online |title=''Juncus effusus'' L. |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:442917-1 |access-date=19 April 2023 }}]
It grows in wet areas, such as [wetland](/source/wetland)s, [riparian areas](/source/riparian_zone), and [marsh](/source/marsh)es with sandy and peaty substrates. It is common throughout the [British Isles](/source/British_Isles) by rivers, streams and lakes, in wet heathland and pastures,[{{cite web|title=''Juncus effusus'' L. |work=BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020 |editor=P.A. Stroh |editor2=T. A. Humphrey |editor3=R.J. Burkmar |editor4=O.L. Pescott |editor5= D.B. Roy |editor6=K.J. Walker |url=https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.59w |access-date=28 April 2023 }}] including [purple moor-grass and rush pastures](/source/purple_moor-grass_and_rush_pastures) and [fen-meadow](/source/fen-meadow) [plant association](/source/plant_association)s.[[http://www.britishwildlife.com/clmindex.asp Conservation Land Management Magazine: "Cutting Rushes" article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819023953/http://www.britishwildlife.com/clmindex.asp |date=2013-08-19 }}, Spring 2003, British Wildlife Publishing.]
==Description==
{{more citations needed|section|date=April 2023}}
''Juncus effusus'' grows in large clumps up to about {{convert|1.2|m|-1}} tall.[{{cite book|last=Stace|first=C. A.|author-link = Stace, C. A.|year=2019|title=New Flora of the British Isles|edition=Fourth|publisher=C & M Floristics|location = Middlewood Green, Suffolk, U.K.| isbn=978-1-5272-2630-2}}]{{rp|984}} The stems are smooth cylinders with light [pith](/source/pith) filling. The yellowish [inflorescence](/source/inflorescence) appears to emerge from one side of the stem about {{convert|20|cm|0}} from the top. In fact the stem ends there; the top part is the [bract](/source/bract), that continues with only a slight colour-band marking it from the stem. The lower leaves are reduced to a brown sheath at the bottom of the stem.
===Subspecies===
Five [subspecies](/source/subspecies) are currently recognized:[[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Juncus+effusus+ssp.+austrocalifornicus Calflora: ''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''austrocalifornicus'']][[https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=80232 Jepson eFlora: ''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''austrocalifornicus'' ]][{{cite journal |author=Peter F.Zika |year=2003 |title=The native subspecies of ''Juncus effusus'' (Juncaceae) in western North America |journal=[Brittonia](/source/Brittonia) |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=150–156 |jstor=3218455 |doi=10.1663/0007-196X(2003)055[0150:TNSOJE]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=36919055 }}]
#''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''effusus'' — widespread
#''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''laxus'' (Robyns & Tournay) Snogerup — tropical Africa, [Madagascar](/source/Madagascar), [Mauritius](/source/Mauritius), [Canary Islands](/source/Canary_Islands), [Madeira](/source/Madeira).
#''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''pacificus'' (Fernald & Wiegand) Piper & Beattie — Alaska, [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), Washington, [Idaho](/source/Idaho), Oregon, California, Baja California.[[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Juncus+effusus+ssp.+pacificus Calflora: ''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''pacificus'']][[https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=79529 Jepson: ''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''pacificus'']]
#''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''solutus'' (Fernald & Wiegand) [Hämet-Ahti](/source/Leena_H%C3%A4met-Ahti) — central and eastern United States.[[http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=JUEFS USDA: ''Juncus effusus'' subsp. ''solutus'']]
''Juncus effusus'' can be differentiated from the rarer ''[Juncus pylaei](/source/Juncus_pylaei)'' by the number of ridges on the stem. ''Juncus effusus'' has 30 to 40 ridges and ''J. pylaei'' has 10 to 20.[{{cite journal|author1=Morton, J.K. |author2=Venn, Joan. M.|year=2000|title=The Flora of Manitoulin Island|series=3rd|volume=edition|journal=University of Waterloo Biology Series N. 40.}}]
==Uses==
===Wildlife===
[[File:Soft Rush with cocoons of Coleophora caespitiella.JPG|right|thumb|Pupal cases of ''[Coleophora caespitiella](/source/Coleophora_caespitiella)'' on ''J. effusus'']]
The species provides wildfowl, wader feeding, and nesting [habitat](/source/habitat)s, and also habitats for small mammals. The rootstalks are eaten by [muskrat](/source/muskrat)s, and birds take shelter amongst the plant's stems. A number of invertebrates feed on soft rush, including the [rufous minor](/source/rufous_minor) moth.[{{cite book |last1=Niering |first1=William A. |author-link1=William Niering| last2=Olmstead |first2=Nancy C. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region |year=1985 |orig-year=1979|publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-50432-1 |page=568}}]
===Humans===
''Juncus effusus'' is one of the seven ingredients of [hui sup tea](/source/Herbal_tea_shops) (去濕茶).{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} In [Japan](/source/culture_of_Japan), this rush is called {{Transliteration|ja|igusa}} ({{Lang|ja|藺草}}) and is grown to be [woven](/source/weaving) into the covering of [tatami](/source/tatami) mats (the filling is rice straw, [extruded styrofoam](/source/extruded_styrofoam), [chip board](/source/chip_board), or some combination).[{{cite news |title=Structure of Tatami |url=https://kyo-tatami.com/world/about/ |newspaper=Original Kyoto Tatami | Motoyama Tatami Shop | Original Kyoto Tatami Shop |publisher=Motoyama Tatami Shop |access-date=14 June 2021 |date=2015-06-28}}] In [Iran](/source/Iran) and [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan) too it is used to weave light cheap mats.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} It is called halfa ({{Lang|ar|حلفا}}) and has medicinal uses too. In Europe, this rush was once used to make [rushlight](/source/rushlight)s (by soaking the pith in grease), a cheap alternative to [candle](/source/candle)s.
====Cultivation====
The species is cultivated as an [ornamental plant](/source/ornamental_plant), for planting in [water garden](/source/water_garden)s, [native plant](/source/native_plant) and [wildlife garden](/source/wildlife_garden)s, and for larger designed [natural landscaping](/source/natural_landscaping) and [habitat restoration](/source/habitat_restoration) projects.
The cultivar [''Juncus effusus'' 'Spiralis'](/source/Juncus_effusus_'Spiralis') (syn. ''Juncus spiralis''), with the common names corkscrew rush or spiral rush, is a distinctive potted and water garden plant due to its very curled spiral like foliage.[{{Cite web |url=http://www.perennials.com/seeplant.html?item=8.240.200 |title=Heritage Perennials: ''Juncus effusus spiralis'' |access-date=2011-07-13 |archive-date=2011-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004064759/http://www.perennials.com/seeplant.html?item=8.240.200 |url-status=dead }}]
==Weed control==
''Juncus effusus'' can become a [naturalized](/source/Naturalisation_(biology)) or [invasive species](/source/invasive_species), undesirable in rangelands for its unpalatability to livestock. Suggested methods of controlling rushes include: ploughing; high applications of inorganic fertilizer (can pollute watersheds); and [topping](/source/Topping_(agriculture)) to prevent seed formation.
==Chemistry==
[Juncusol](/source/Juncusol) is a 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene found in ''J. effusus''.[{{cite journal | author = Bhattacharyya | journal = Experientia | volume = 36 | date = 1980 | pages = 27–28 | doi=10.1007/bf02003949 | title=Structure of effusol: A new phenolic constituent from ''Juncus effusus''| s2cid = 41731083 }}][{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)98276-1| title = Phenanthrene derivatives from the medullae of ''Juncus effusus''| journal = Phytochemistry| volume = 30| issue = 9| pages = 3149| year = 1991| last1 = Shima| first1 = Katsuhito| last2 = Toyota| first2 = Masao| last3 = Asakawa| first3 = Yoshinori| bibcode = 1991PChem..30.3149S}}] The plant also contains [effusol](/source/effusol)[{{Cite journal | doi=10.1071/CH9842111| title=Phenanthrene synthesis: The synthesis of effusol a 9,10-Dihydrophenanthrene from the marsh grass ''Juncus effusus''| journal=Australian Journal of Chemistry| volume=37| issue=10| pages=2111| year=1984| last1=Carvalho| first1=CF| last2=Sargent| first2=MV| last3=Stanojevic| first3=E}}] and [dehydroeffusol](/source/dehydroeffusol).[{{Cite journal | doi=10.1055/s-0030-1250517| pmid=21104609| title=Anxiolytic and Sedative Effects of Dehydroeffusol from ''Juncus effusus'' in Mice| journal=Planta Medica| volume=77| issue=5| pages=416–20| year=2010| last1=Liao| first1=You-Jiao| last2=Zhai| first2=Hai-Feng| last3=Zhang| first3=Bing| last4=Duan| first4=Tian-Xuan| last5=Huang| first5=Jian-Mei| s2cid=260248394}}]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline}}
*[https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=4459 Calflora Database: ''Juncus effusus'' (Bog rush, Common bog rush, Common rush)]
*[https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=29646 Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Juncus effusus'']
*[http://naeb.brit.org/uses/species/2042/ University of Michigan - Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of ''Juncus effusus'']
*[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Juncus+effusus UC CalPhotos gallery of ''Juncus effusus'']
*[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342591952_Short_Note_of_Juncus_effusus_ssp_effusus Radoslaw Walkowiak: ''Short Note of Juncus effusus ssp. effusus'' (CTC PAPER 2020)]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161677}}
{{Authority control}}
effusus
Category:Flora of Africa
Category:Flora of Europe
Category:Flora of Northern America
Category:Flora of Southern America
Category:Flora of temperate Asia
Category:Freshwater plants
Category:Garden plants
Category:Medicinal plants
Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine
Category:Plants described in 1753
Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Juncus effusus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juncus_effusus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juncus_effusus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.