Key to Luzula

View taxon page for Luzula

(For a list of species in Luzula, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Flowers mostly 1, occasionally a few in small clusters of 2–4, at branch tips

2. Perianth tips 

acuminate 

Having a long-tapered, sharp tip, the sides concave.

, often strongly curved; 

sheath 

A surrounding or partially surrounding, often tubular structure or part of a structure, such as a leaf base in Apiaceae or Poaceae.

mouth glabrous; mature inflorescences stiffly branched, ± spheric ..... L. divaricata

2' Perianth tips 

acute 

Having a short-tapered, sharp tip, the sides convex or straight and converging at less than a right angle.

to acuminate, 

appressed 

Parallel or nearly parallel to and often in contact with surface of origin; used to describe the disposition of hairs, leaves, pedicels, etc.

to 

erect 

Upright; vertically oriented.

or only slightly curved; sheath mouth often hairy; mature inflorescences arching to nodding, or if stiffly branched ± ovoid to ± 

lanceolate 

Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.

in outline

3. Leaves bright green to mid-green, shiny, turning red-brown to orange in autumn; perianth parts and 

capsules 

Dry fruit from compound pistil, nearly always dehiscent (irregularly or by pores, slits, or lines of separation).

generally pale to brown; bractlets generally not 

ciliate 

Having generally straight, conspicuous hairs along margins or edges.

..... L. parviflora

3' Leaves blue- to gray-green, dull, turning purple in autumn; perianth parts and capsules generally blackish to dark brown; bractlets ciliate ..... L. piperi

1' Flowers congested or in dense clusters at branch tips, or 

entire 

Having margins that are continuous and smooth (i.e., without teeth, lobes, etc.).

 inflorescence congested

4. Stem 

leaf 

Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).

tips acute to acuminate (at 10× magnification), generally not thickened and rounded; inflorescences dark, dense and nodding, or a 

panicle 

1. In flowering plants excluding Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and some other groups, a branched inflorescence in which the basal or lateral flowers (or some of them) open before the terminal or central flowers on any axis. 2. In Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and some other groups, a panicle-like inflorescence is one in which at least some of the inflorescence units (e.g., heads in Asteraceae; spikelets in Cyperaceae and Poaceae), instead of individual flowers, are attached (stalked or unstalked) to branches and not directly to the main axis of the inflorescence and in which floral development may or may not proceed as in 1.

5. Inflorescences dense, head-like to 

oblong 

Longer than wide, with nearly parallel sides; wider than linear.

, often interrupted at base, mostly unbranched, rarely with 1–3 small lateral heads 

sessile 

Without a petiole, peduncle, pedicel, or other kind of stalk.

or on 

peduncles 

Stalk of an individual flower borne singly, not in an inflorescence, or of an entire inflorescence, or the corresponding structure in fruit; the stalk subtending an involucre (e.g., in Asteraceae, Polygonaceae).

< 5 mm, terminal 

head 

1. A dense, often spheric inflorescence of sessile or subsessile flowers.
2. In Asteraceae and some other groups, a head-like inflorescence is one in which sessile or subsessile inflorescence units (e.g., heads in Asteraceae, umbels enclosed by involucres in Eriogonum), instead of individual flowers, are attached in a short dense cluster without an evident axis or branches.

nodding at maturity; 

basal 

At or near the base of a plant or plant part. Especially said of leaves clustered near the ground or of a placenta confined to the base of an ovary.

 leaves 0.5–3 mm wide, channeled, at least distally ..... L. spicata subsp. spicata

5' Inflorescences open, branched 

panicles 

1. In flowering plants excluding Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and some other groups, a branched inflorescence in which the basal or lateral flowers (or some of them) open before the terminal or central flowers on any axis. 2. In Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and some other groups, a panicle-like inflorescence is one in which at least some of the inflorescence units (e.g., heads in Asteraceae; spikelets in Cyperaceae and Poaceae), instead of individual flowers, are attached (stalked or unstalked) to branches and not directly to the main axis of the inflorescence and in which floral development may or may not proceed as in 1.

, flowers and fruits clustered at branch tips, the primary branches well-developed, arching to nodding or erect, secondary branches short, sometimes obscured; basal leaves 3–9 mm wide, flat ..... L. subcongesta

4' Stem leaf tips thickened and generally blunt or rounded (at 10× magnification); inflorescences pale or dark, dense and erect, or an 

umbel 

1. In flowering plants excluding Asteraceae and some other groups, an inflorescence in which three to many pedicels and, if compound, branches (rays) radiate from a common point; characteristic of but not confined to Apiaceae. 2. In Asteraceae and some other groups, an umbel-like inflorescence is one in which three to many stalked inflorescence units (e.g., heads in Asteraceae, umbels enclosed by involucres in Eriogonum), instead of individual flowers, radiate from a common point of attachment without an evident axis or branches.

of spikes

6. Stem bases with fragile, elongate ± horizontal rhizomes; damp to wet sites ..... L. cascadensis

6' Stem bases bulb-like or not, rhizomes 0 or short, sturdy, ± vertical; dry, damp, or wet sites

7. Inflorescence an umbel of spikes; stem bases bulb-like

8. Perianth parts pale- to mid-brown, 2.1–3.5(4) mm; anthers 0.5–1.2(1.5) mm ..... L. comosa var. laxa

8' Perianth parts dark brown to blackish, at least in center near midvein, (3.5)4–6.1 mm; anthers 1.1–2.4(3) mm ..... L. macrantha

7' Inflorescence dense, head-like to ovoid or oblong, sometimes lobed; stem bases bulb-like or not

9. Seeds 0.45–0.65 mm wide; seed appendage 0.1–0.25 mm; inflorescence 0.4–1.2(2) cm, length < 2× width; inflorescence bract(s) often prominent and > inflorescence; subalpine to alpine, > 2400 m elev ..... L. orestera

9' Seeds 0.65–1.2 mm wide; seed appendage 0.15–0.6 mm; inflorescence 1.3–7 cm, sometimes length > 2× width; inflorescence bracts prominent or inconspicuous; < 1350 m elev

10. Perianth parts pale- to mid-brown; stigmas 0.8–1.5 mm ..... L. comosa var. comosa

10' Perianth parts dark brown to blackish; stigmas 1.4–3.5 mm ..... L. subsessilis

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