Juncaceae - Rush family

All images on this website have been taken in Leicestershire and Rutland by NatureSpot members. We welcome new contributions - just register and use the Submit Records form to post your photos. Click on any image below to visit the species page. The RED / AMBER / GREEN dots indicate how easy it is to identify the species - see our Identification Difficulty page for more information. A coloured rating followed by an exclamation mark denotes that different ID difficulties apply to either males and females or to the larvae - see the species page for more detail.

Grasses, Rushes & Sedges

These four families of plants are often grouped together because of their similarities - all are monocotyledons and have wind-pollinated flowers. Leaves, when present, are long and narrow with parallel veins.  Because they are not pollinated by insects, their flowers lack petals, scent or other features that attract insects; flowers are often greenish or brownish, and botanists use different terms to describe various flower-parts of grasses and sedges.  There is more on this under the family headings.  Detailed examination these flower-parts is often needed to identify a species.

Identification resources

See our Recording Trees, Wildflowers & Grasses page for guidance on how to record.  Grasses, rushes and sedges are not usually included in wildflower field-guides, so you may need to refer to a different book or identification resource.

More on recording in Leicestershire and Rutland and contacts for our County Recorders are on the webpage of our local VC55 branch of the BSBI.

Video: Key Features of Grasses Useful for Identification (Russell Parry, VC55 BSBI County Recorder) https://youtu.be/Xe6ZYYZqTmw

Video: Two Increasingly Common City Grasses (Russell Parry, VC55 BSBI County Recorder) https://youtu.be/sDTjBdE1Sb4

Field guides:

  • Price, D.  2015.  A Field Guide to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes (Species Recovery Trust)
  • Gardener & Roberts.  2010.  Guide to Common grasses. FSC.  One of the popular and inexpensive FSC fold-out guides, illustrating some of the commoner species. 
  • Rose, F. 1989.  Colour Identification Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of the British Isles and North-Western Europe. (Viking).  A companion to the popular Wildflower Key
  • Hubbard, C.E. 1992. Grasses: A Guide to Their Structure, Identification, Uses and Distribution in the British Isles. (Penguin).  
  • Cope, T. & Gray, A. 2009. Grasses of the British Isles (BSBI) - available as an e-book as well as a physical book - see BSBI Handbooks
  • Jermy, A.C et al. 2007.  Sedges - 3rd edition (BSBI) -  available as an e-book as well as a physical book - see BSBI Handbooks
  • McDougall, E. A vegetative key to Grasses (Bristol ERC). Available from the BSBI - see their Grass ID webpages
  • Davis, B N K.  2008. A Field Key to Grasses of the East Midlands (Huntingdon Flora & Fauna Society) may be useful if you can find a copy.

Juncaceae - Rush family

Rushes (Juncus) are usually aquatic or prefer marshy ground; they sometimes have rounded or flattened leaves, but several species lack stem-leaves. Stems are usually rounded and with central pith-filled cavity.   Many species have short rhizomes and grow in dense tufts.  Flowers are green- or brownish, with 6 tepals, 3 inner and 3 outer; usually 6 stamens; and a single seed capsule.  'Tepal' is the term used when petals and sepals are similar, instead of being differentiated (as is often the case with flowering plants with coloured petals and green sepals).   Identification of most species involves details of the mature tepals and capsule, so it is helpful to take close-up photos of these parts. 

Wood-rushes (Luzula) have similar flowers but flattened, grass-like leaves, with a fringe of long white hairs, and are usually found in drier habitats.

Note that Club-rushes and Spike-rushes are in the Sedge family (Cyperaceae)