E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from long, creeping rhizomes; stems arising singly, not in dense clusters, round, usually straight, smooth, wiry, erect, 15-60 cm tall.

Leaves:
Reduced to small sheaths at the base of the stem; sheaths shiny brown.

Flowers:
Inflorescence dense, with 3 to 12 dark-coloured flowers; branches 1-7 cm long, appearing as if on the side of the stem, located above the middle, in the upper third of the stem; perianth segments dark with translucent margins, red-brown, 4-5 mm long, the outer slightly longer than the inner ones, pointed, the inner segments blunt; stamens 6; anthers shorter than the filaments; involucral bract 2-20 cm long, cylindrical, resembling a continuation of the stem.

Fruits:
Capsules, with blunt tips, about equal to the perianth segments; seeds spindle-shaped, 0.8-1.1 mm long, lacking tail-like appendages.

Notes:
The taxonomic relationship between this species and related J. balticus has not been clarified. Juncus arcticus is a variable species, with many infraspecific taxa described. The whole complex requires further study and more intensive collecting throughout our area. I am treating all of our plants as ssp. sitchensis with the exception of some plants from northern BC which belong to the rare ssp. alaskanus.

1. Involucral bract 10-20 cm long; inner perianth segments pointed, narrowly translucent-margined................ssp. sitchensis Engelm.

1. Involucral bract 2-5 cm long; inner perianth segments with short awns, broadly translucent-margined................. ssp. alaskanus Hult.