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 1(2–3) on inflorescence branches

2. Inflorescence branches generally at ± right angles; perianth part tip ± 

reflexed 

Abruptly bent or curved downward or backward.

..... L. divaricata

2' Inflorescence branches nodding to 

spreading 

Oriented more or less perpendicularly to the axis of attachment; often, more or less horizontal.

but not at ± right angles; perianth parts 

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.

, not reflexed

3. Plant < 30 cm; cauline leaves 2–3, 

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 3–4 mm wide; perianth parts generally dark brown ..... L. piperi

3' Plant 30–70 cm; cauline leaves (3)4–5, basal leaves 5–8 mm wide; perianth parts generally straw-brown ..... L. parviflora

4. Inflorescence few-flowered, branches long; perianth parts generally pale- to straw-brown ..... subsp. fastigiata

4' Inflorescence many-flowered, main branches long, distal 2° branches short; perianth parts medium brown ..... subsp. parviflora

1' Flowers in dense, ovoid to 

cylindric 

Elongate, with parallel sides and, at any point, round in transverse section.

clusters, or 

entire 

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

inflorescence congested

5. Cauline 

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 microscopically generally not thickened or rounded

6. Inflorescence dense, generally interrupted at base, nodding; basal leaves 1.5–3 mm wide, channeled ..... L. spicata

6' Inflorescence of 4–20 clusters 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).

of variable length, not nodding, some peduncles occasionally arching or ± flexuous; basal leaves 3–6 mm wide, flat ..... L. subcongesta

5' Cauline leaf tips microscopically generally thickened and rounded

7. Inflorescence dense, ± black-brown; seeds 0.5–0.6 mm wide ..... L. orestera

7' Inflorescence of peduncled or ± 

sessile 

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

clusters, if dense then pale brown to straw-brown, otherwise not darker than brown; seeds > 0.7 mm wide

8. Seeds ovoid-subspheric, 0.9–1.1 mm wide; style 0.6–1.2 mm ..... L. subsessilis

8' Seeds ovoid or narrowly ovoid; 0.7–0.9 mm wide, style 0.4–0.7 mm ..... L. comosa

9. Inflorescence generally dense; style 0.4–0.5 mm; anthers 0.6–1 mm; seeds 1–1.2 mm, 0.8–0.9 mm wide ..... var. comosa

9' Inflorescence generally of peduncled clusters; style 0.5–0.7 mm; anthers 0.8–1.2(1.5) mm; seeds 1.1–1.3 mm, 0.7–0.8 mm wide ..... var. laxa

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) . Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/ [accessed on ]

Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on .

We encourage links to these pages, but the content may not be downloaded for reposting, repackaging, redistributing, or sale in any form, without written permission from The Jepson Herbarium.