Juncus luciensis Ertter
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Authority
Ertter, Barbara J. 1986. The Juncus triformis complex. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 39: 1-90.
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Family
Juncaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Latin Diagnosis - In J. kelloggio hacusque inclusis, a qua imprimis differt flore plerumque solitario.
Species Description - Plants 0.7-5.5(-6.5) cm tall, remaining green or only slowly turning pale reddish, drying stramineous; leaves to 1.5 cm long, the blade 0.1-0.3(-0.4) mm wide; culms to ca. 160, 0.4-5.2(-6.2) cm long, 0.1-0.3 mm thick, remaining green; bracts two, rounded to acutely ovate, usually unpigmented, sometimes brown-flecked or reddish at the base, 0.4-1.6 mm long; pedicels 0.3-0.6 mm flowers 1 (-2), usually trimerous; tepals (4-)6, 1.6-3(-4.2) mm long, 0.4-0.6 mm wide, subequal or differing by up to 0.2 mm (in some populations the long-acuminate outer tepals are up to 1 mm longer than the inner), acute to acuminate, the central band dark-tipped but otherwise remaining pale yellow-green and only slowly turning reddish, 0.1-0.2 mm wide, the margins unpigmented, 0.1-0.2 mm wide; stamens 2-3, 0.9-1.4 mm long, ca. ½ the length of the tepals; filaments 0.6-1 mm long; anthers 0.3-0.5 mm long, 1/3-½ the length of the filaments; style 0.20.4 mm long; stigmas (2-)3, 0.6-1.1 mm long, white, just barely exserted beyond the tepals at anthesis; capsule obovoid to elliptic, (2-)3-valved, terete, rounded to slightly retuse, subequal to the tepals, differing by up to 0.3 mm, 1.3-2.9 mm long, 0.9-1.6 mm wide, remaining pale greenish or turning light reddish above as the seeds ripen, similar in color to the tepals; seeds to 8 per row and ca. 40 per capsule, globose-ovoid, 0.3-0.4 mm long, sometimes apiculate, the longitudinal ridges very distinct at 10 x (Fig. 8e, f). n = 16.
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Discussion
Type. United States. California. Monterey Co.: S side of sandstone knoll near Road 8 between The Indians turnoff and N Fork San Antonio River, shallow wet soil at edge of seepage on exposed sandstone in oak woodland, with moss, Isoetes, annual grasses, and annual forbs, T21S, R5E, S 16/21, 540 m, 12 May 1980, Ertter & Strachan 3366 (Holotype: NY!; Isotypes: CAS, CPH, DAV, F, GH, ISC, K, LA, LE, MICH, MO, NY, OBI, P, PH, RM, RSA, SBBG, SD, TEX!, UC, UTC,m WTU). Often growing with J. kelloggii, less often with J. tiehmii, occasionally with J. uncialis and J. hemiendytus, rarely with J. bryoides. Juncus luciensis is the member of the “kelloggii” group centered in the Central Coast Ranges, in particular the Santa Lucia Range. Alice Eastwood, the first person to do extensive collecting in the area (Hoover, 1970), found the plants growing near Jolon in 1915. She identified her collection of immature plants as Eleocharis sp.; Hermann annotated and cited it as J. capillaris. Howell (1963) disagreed with Hermann’s identification and placed it in J. kelloggii. The seeds are not ripe, but the coloration, bracts, and number of flowers indicate that the collection is a mixture of J. luciensis and J. kelloggii. A second small isolated center for the species is in the Diamond Range of Plumas and Lassen Counties. It was here that A. A. Heller and P. B. Kennedy made the first collection of the species, in July 1907, on the road from Beckwourth to Genesee in Red Clover Valley [=Clover Valley]. These specimens were widely distributed as J. uncialis. Collections of J. luciensis have also been made from isolated stations in Napa, Riverside, and San Diego Counties. Perhaps additional populations are waiting to be discovered that will link the stations in northern California and the Peninsular Ranges to those in the Central Coast Ranges, or extend the range south into Baja California. Hermann noted the one-flowered condition that characterizes Juncus luciensis on specimens in his herbarium (now at MICH) but made no mention of this feature in his revision. Howell (1963) also noted the predominance of solitary flowers in the Santa Lucia material. An annotation in Hoover’s hand on Eastwood & Howell 4198 (CAS) from Estrella notes “Scapes all one-flowered—wholly unlike some spms. labelled J. Kelloggii. Diverges even more widely from type photograph & original description.” In his flora of San Luis Obispo County, Hoover (1970) elaborated, “Our plants differ from typical J. brachystylus as found elsewhere in having the peduncles nearly always one-flowered. In appearance they closely match J. uncialis, from which they are distinguished by their different seeds.” Juncus luciensis does indeed strongly resemble J. uncialis and has often been misidentified as such, though the seeds and bracts are reliably different. Even the chromosome numbers are the same. Moreover, the two species occasionally occur in mixed populations, such as at Jolon and Estrella. It is possible that J. luciensis is more closely related to J. uncialis than suggested here; it may be an alternate ancestor of J. uncialis or a hybrid derivative of J. uncialis and one of the other ridge-seeded species. If J. luciensis is of hybrid origin, it is even possible that the isolated populations arose from independent hybrid events. The epithet “luciensis” refers to the Santa Lucia Range, where the species is most abundant. I also chose the name because of its quasi-anagrammatical similarity to “uncialis.” The species has not been illustrated before. I recommend Santa Lucia dwarf rush as a vernacular name.
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Distribution
Wet sandy soils of seepage areas on sandstone, depressions in meadows, vernal pools, and streamsides, most common in the Santa Lucia Mts. of Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties, south through the Transverse and Peninsular ranges to San Diego Co.; also in Napa Co. and the Diamond Mts. of Plumas and Lassen Counties, California, from 300 to 1860 m (Fig. 14). Flowering from April to July.
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