Juncus castaneus Sm.

vernacular chestnut rush — species · Juncaceae

USDA: JUCA6
GBIF: 2701078
Rank: species

chestnut rush (Juncus castaneus) — Platephotograph · no rights reservedCC0 · public domain source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

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

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Native
CAN Canada Native
GL Greenland Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state

Legend Native · 1 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

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

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -38 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 65 min.
Precipitation: 32–60 in/yr
pH range: 5.7–7.5
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Stoloniferous
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 1.5 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Brown
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

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

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
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 1 county across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 1 N ▾

Park 30067

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/JUCA6 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2701078 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

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