Torrey's rush

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Torrey's rush

Torrey's rush

Torrey's rush

Torrey's rush

Torrey's rush

Torrey's rush

Torrey's rush

Morphology

Culm

Erect, stout, rigid, unbranched, round.

Leaves

Blades 2-4, cylindric, often exceeding culms, less than 1/5 inch wide, thick, hollow, circular in cross-section, divided into partitions, glabrous, diverging abruptly from culms; bases sheathing culms; auricles rounded.

Inflorescence

Heads, spherical, dense, 1-20, stalked, terminal, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter, 30-80-flowered; bracts leaf-like, exceeding inflorescence.

Flower

Perianth segments narrowly lanceolate, about 1/5 inch long, tapered to long points, greenish, turning gold or brown after flowering; outer perianth segments longer than inner; stamens 6, about 1/2 as long as perianth segments.

Fruit

Capsules, narrowly awl-shaped, 3-sided, brown; tips long-tapered, as long or slightly longer than perianth segments; seeds numerous, tiny, egg-shaped.

Ecology

Habitat

Marshes, wet prairies, pond and stream edges, and roadside ditches, most abundant in sandy soils.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas.

Additional Notes