Las juncáceas (nombre científico Juncaceae) forman una familia de plantas monocotiledóneas parecidas a los pastos, con hojas lineales que poseen vaina y lámina pero no tienen lígula, inflorescencias normalmente condensadas en glomérulos terminales y se diferencian de los pastos porque las flores poseen tépalos obvios, las hojas son trísticas, y los frutos son cápsulas. Han colonizado todos los ambientes en especial los de las zonas templadas, y se polinizan por viento. El nombre de la familia fue utilizado en sistemas de clasificación modernos como el sistema de clasificación APG III (2009) y el APWeb (2001 en adelante) en los que es asignado al clado ciperáceas-juncos del orden Poales. En la familia se encuentran los juncos y afines. La importancia económica es limitada, algunas son utilizadas como ornamentales, algunas utilizadas para tejer canastas o sillas.

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The Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants of eight genera and about 464 known species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses and sedges. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range of moisture conditions. The most well-known and largest genus is Juncus. Most of the Juncus species grow exclusively in wetland habitats. A few rushes are annuals, but most are perennials. The leaves are evergreen and well-developed in a basal aggregation on an erect stem. They are alternate and tristichous (i.e., with three rows of leaves up the stem, each row of leaves arising one-third of the way around the stem from the previous leaf). Only in the genus Distichia are the leaves distichous. The rushes of the genus Juncus have flat, hairless leaves or cylindrical leaves. The leaves of the wood-rushes of the genus Luzula are always flat and bear long white hairs. The plants are hermaphroditic or, rarely, dioecious. The small flowers are arranged in inflorescences of loose cymes, but also in rather dense heads or corymbs at the top of the stem or at its side. This family typically has reduced perianth segments called tepals. These are usually arranged in two whorls, each containing three thin, papery tepals. They are not bright or flashy in appearance, and their color can vary from greenish to whitish, brown, purple, black, or hyaline. The three stigmas are in the center of the flowers. As is characteristic of monocots, all of the flower parts appear in multiples of three. The fruit is usually a nonfleshy, three-sectioned dehiscent capsule containing many seeds.

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