Modest Juncus capitatus

in #hive-1277882 years ago

Juncus capitatus 3.jpg


I usually take dozens of photos of each plant knowing that some might not be in focus or just meh. I don't know what got into me to take literally three shots of this little thing here. Maybe because it looked like some dead weed already and I would not be able to get an ID for it? Or they all looked simply the same (not that it stopped me before). I have no idea.

But I did manage to ID it and it is an interesting weed.

Juncus capitatus



Juncus capitatus wildflower 1.jpg


I was convinced that I have found seed pods after some very early spring flowers. The brownish colours and shape could indicate that.

But noooo... those are buds!
Nice misleading tactics little one. Very nice!
The flowers keep the very neutral colours. What you see here are basically petals and not a the little outside leaves that sometimes protect the delicate petals - see the graphics below.


Juncus capitatus 2.jpg


The plant is very small. The ones I found were about 7 cm tall and that were the flower stems. Leaves are shorted and look like young grass - long and very thin.

It is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa. It is also an introduced species in parts of North America such as California and the Gulf Coast. It grows in moist areas, such as wet sand, vernal pools, and ditches.
It germinates in autumn and grows in places where water stands in winter and which dry up completely in summer,

source

Yep, that's about right. You can see how sandy (almost pure sand) the soil is in that spot. And yet, they (and other weeds) were growing all over the place! It is a wild area close to the coastline and in winter and spring you can find large puddles there. If you remember from some other post not long ago I was showing an image if cracked soil. That's the same spot and all the cracks were the leftover from large poodle that was drying up slowly. Perfect spot for them then.

The flowers start to bloom around March in this area and the blooming lasts for a bout a month. Then the seeds are tossed around wand wait patiently for the rains to come.

Lastly a graphic of the plant from 1796 :). How cool it is that wikimedia has things like that.


image.png
image source


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Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.



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Hello @ewkaw!

thank for sharing
We appreciate your work and your post was manually curated by @none! from the DNA team!

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Cool that you still could id it. With less photos.
Great captures @ewkaw

Thanks! I am glad too. Always cool to know exactly what I got :)

You are welcome @ewkaw
It sure is 😉
Happy weekend 👋🏻☀️

I appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by Botanic team @oscurity on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!

intresting job! I thought it was a species that is found in the dunes but it is more of humid areas

Thanks! The area is very sandy and close to the coast. I'd say it gets a lot of ocean moist + the winter rains keep it wet. Summer is as dry as it gets.

Yeah, I've also seen it in the beach area, the flower is family of grass.
Good hunt Chief 👍

Great!

I think I know this family of plants, they're sedges aren't they and some of the bigger types are often found around ponds. These ones are very pretty albeit so small! I'm amazed at the great macro photography. They're sneaky little plants aren't they, trying to trick you like that.

I think it could be something similar that you mention. Do you have a photo?

They're sneaky little plants aren't they,

Haha yea :D

The next walk I do, I'll take a photo for you, they do look very much alike but the ones I know grow about 30cm tall but look almost identical. Might be able to snap a pic tomorrow and send it through :)

Cute plant!
And the photos turned out beautiful!

Thank you :)

They look amazing, congratulations

Thanks!


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