Juncus acuminatus Michx.

vernacular tapertip rush — species · Juncaceae

USDA: JUAC
GBIF: 2701323
Rank: species

tapertip rush (Juncus acuminatus) — Platephotograph · celestabeeCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Juncaceae Juss.
Genus: Juncus

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: High
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: High
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 80 min.
Precipitation: 16–55 in/yr
pH range: 4.4–7.2
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Bunch
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 3 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, bare root, sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/JUAC ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2701323 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z