Juncaginaceae Rich.

Annual or perennial glabrous herbs, tufted or rhizomatous, often with tubers, rarely bulbous, emergent when aquatic. Leaves basal, ± linear to terete, often spongy, erect to floating; leaf sheath open, apically tapered, ligulate or auriculate. Inflorescence a raceme or spike, usually bractless, terminal on an axillary scape, rarely also with 2 sessile female flowers at scape base. Flowers mostly bisexual, sometimes unisexual. Perianth often of 3 free tepals or of 6 in 2 similar alternate whorls, less commonly tepals 0 or 1–5, deciduous. Stamens 1–6, each inserted on base of tepal and falling with it; anthers sessile or subsessile, 2-locular, longitudinally dehiscent, extrorse, each shorter than its tepal and usually enveloped by it. Gynoecium superior; carpels usually 1 or 3–6, sometimes 2, 7 or 8, free or united ventrally, often 3 of the carpels sterile and forming a central axis; ovule 1 per carpel, basal or apical; style mostly short and thick, rarely thread-like; stigma papillose or hairy. Fertile fruiting carpels hard or follicle-like or an achene, indehiscent or opening ventrally, mostly separating and falling at maturity; 3 fertile carpels alternating with the 3 sterile ones of the central axis when this is present. Seed solitary, non-endospermic; embryo straight. [The above description is largely from Aston (2011), revised to remove Maundia which is now placed in a separate family Maundinaceae-Editor, 17 September 2021.]