Colorado rush facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Colorado rush
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Juncaceae
Genus:	Juncus
Species:	J. confusus
Binomial name
Juncus confusus Coville
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Synonyms
Juncus exilis

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Juncus confusus is a type of plant known as a rush. It is often called the Colorado rush. This plant grows naturally in western North America. You can find it from British Columbia in Canada, down through northern California, and all the way to Colorado in the United States. It likes to grow in wet, grassy places, like mountain meadows and conifer forests.

What is Colorado Rush?

The Colorado rush is a plant that lives for many years. It grows in clumps and has underground stems called rhizomes. These rhizomes help the plant spread. It can grow to be about 30 to 50 centimeters tall. That's roughly the length of a standard ruler!

What Does It Look Like?

The leaves of the Colorado rush are thin and thread-like. They grow from the bottom of the plant and can be about 15 centimeters long. The stems are a light green color.

At the top of the stem, you'll find the plant's flowers. These flowers grow in a group called an inflorescence. There's also a long leaf-like part called a bract at the base of the flowers. This bract can be up to 8 centimeters long.

Each flower has long, pointed parts called tepals. These tepals have cool dark and light stripes. They also have thin, see-through edges. Inside the flower, there are six stamens, which are the parts that make pollen.

After the flowers bloom, the plant produces fruit. The fruit is a small, oval or round-shaped capsule. It can be light brown or dark brown.

Where Does It Grow?

The Colorado rush prefers cool, moist places. It thrives in areas like:

• Mountain meadows
• Wet, grassy fields
• Forests with cone-bearing trees (coniferous forests)

Its natural home stretches across a large part of western North America. This includes parts of Canada and the western United States.