TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

JUNCACEAE

RUSH FAMILY

Janice Coffey Swab

Annual, perennial herb, generally from rhizomes
Stem round or flat
Leaves generally mostly basal; sheath margins fused, or overlapping and generally with 2 ear-like extensions at blade junction; blade round, flat, or vestigial, glabrous or margin hairy
Inflorescence: head-like clusters or single flowers, variously arranged; bracts subtending inflorescence 2, generally leaf-like; bracts subtending inflorescence branches 1–2, reduced; bractlets subtending flowers generally 1–2, generally translucent
Flower generally bisexual, radial; sepals and petals similar, persistent, green to brown or purplish black; stamens generally 3 or 6, anthers linear, persistent; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 1 or 3, placentas 1 and basal or 3 and axile or parietal, stigmas generally > style
Fruit: capsule, loculicidal
Seeds 3–many, often with white appendages on 1 or both ends
Genera in family: 9 genera, 325 species: temp, arctic, tropical mtns. Fls late spring to early fall.

LUZULA

HAIRY WOOD RUSH

Perennial; rhizome often short, vertical
Stem round
Leaves mostly basal, reduced upward; sheath closed; margin and sheath opening generally with long, soft hairs; blades flat or channeled, veins indistinct, tips often thick
Inflorescence: head-like clusters or panicles of separate flowers; bractlets 1–3, margins often hairy
Flower: stamens 6; pistil 1, chamber 1, placenta basal
Seeds 3, plump, elliptic, often with a distinct ridge, sometimes attached to placenta by tuft of hairs
Species in genus: 80 species: worldwide, especially n hemisphere
Etymology: (Latin: light; Italian: glowworm)
When present, fleshy seed appendage (outer seed coat) adapts large seeds to ant dispersal.

Native

L. spicata (L.) DC.

Plant densely cespitose, 3–33 cm
Stem: bases thick, extending several cm into soil, reddish
Leaf: sheath opening densely hairy; blade erect, 2–15 cm, 1–4 mm wide, linear, channeled, tip not thickened
Inflorescence: panicle of dense, nodding, spike-like clusters, each 1–25 mm, often interrupted by 10–70 mm; lowest bract generally > inflorescence; bracts and bractlets = to > flowers, clear, margin hairy, tip narrow and extended
Flower: perianth segments 2–2.5 mm (sepals > petals), bristle-pointed, brown with clear margins or very pale throughout
Fruit generally < perianth, round with ± acute tip, pale to dark brown
Seed 1 mm, brown; appendage 0.2 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=24
Ecology: Alpine slopes, subalpine forests
Elevation: 2900–3700 m.
Bioregional distribution: High Sierra Nevada, Warner Mountains, East of Sierra Nevada (Sweetwater Mtns)
Distribution outside California: circumpolar, to Alaska, high mtns of N.America, Eurasia
Flowering time: Jul–Aug
Synonyms: var. nova Smiley; subsp. saximontana Á. Löve & D. Löve