Juncus dichotomusElliott

forked rush

WFO wfo-0000776306 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Juncus dichotomus, photographed by Leon Perrie
fig. a Leon Perrie, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-05-24 / obs. 74658315
Juncus dichotomus, photographed by Leon Perrie
fig. b Leon Perrie, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 73060902
Juncus dichotomus, photographed by John Kees
fig. c John Kees, CC0 1.0 / obs. 203754441
Juncus dichotomus, photographed by Alan Weakley
fig. d Alan Weakley, CC0 1.0 / obs. 203842271
Juncus dichotomus, photographed by Thomas Mesaglio
fig. e Thomas Mesaglio, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192112165
Juncus dichotomus, photographed by naturewatchwidow
fig. f naturewatchwidow, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176106343
Juncus dichotomus, photographed by naturewatchwidow
fig. g naturewatchwidow, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176105711
Juncus dichotomus, photographed by Leon Perrie
fig. h Leon Perrie, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 109134550

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 49 botanical countries

Regions where Juncus dichotomus is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Chile Central, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela AlabamaArkansasColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMississippiNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBoliviaBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastChile CentralCosta RicaDominican RepublicEl SalvadorGuatemalaHondurasJamaicaParaguayPuerto RicoUruguayVenezuela DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Juncus dichotomus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Mississippi MSI
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bolivia BOL
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Chile Central CLC
Costa Rica COS
Dominican Republic DOM
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Paraguay PAR
Puerto Rico PUE
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 161 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -4.5 °C 6.8 °C 11.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 20.4 °C 27.8 °C 33.7 °C
Annual rainfall 874 mm 1,264 mm 1,716 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 149 mm 254 mm 344 mm

It is found where winters bring light frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 161 research-grade observations of Juncus dichotomus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 8 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Juncus albicans Fernald
  • Juncus cognatus Kunth
  • Juncus dichotomus var. platyphyllus Wiegand
  • Juncus platyphyllus (Wiegand) Fernald
  • Juncus tenuis subsp. dichotomus (Elliott) Verloove & Lambinon
  • Juncus tenuis var. dichotomus (Elliott) Alph.Wood
  • Juncus tenuis var. platyphyllus (Wiegand) Cory
  • Juncus tenuis var. unicornis E.Mey.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.