Luzula
Encyclopedia
Luzula is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plant
s the family Juncaceae
, with a cosmopolitan distribution
, the highest species diversity
being in temperate Asia
and Europe
.
The species are perennial
(rarely annual
) plants growing 20–80 cm tall, with linear grass
-like leaves
.
Luzula species are used as food plants by the larva
e of some Lepidoptera
species including Smoky Wainscot
and case-bearers of the genus Coleophora
including C. antennariella (feeds exclusively on L. pilosa), C. biforis (feeds exclusively on Luzula), C. glaucicolella, C. leucapennis (feeds exclusively on Luzula), C. otidipennella (feeds exclusively on Luzula) and C. sylvaticella (feeds exclusively on L. sylvatica).
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s the family Juncaceae
Juncaceae
Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants. There are eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range...
, with a cosmopolitan distribution
Cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
, the highest species diversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
being in temperate Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The species are perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
(rarely annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
) plants growing 20–80 cm tall, with linear grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
-like leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
.
Luzula species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including Smoky Wainscot
Smoky Wainscot
The Smoky Wainscot is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe.As with other "wainscots", this species has buffish yellow forewings with prominent venation. The Smoky Wainscot has a dark basal streak with another shorter streak nearer to the costa and tornus. This...
and case-bearers of the genus Coleophora
Coleophora
Coleophora is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions...
including C. antennariella (feeds exclusively on L. pilosa), C. biforis (feeds exclusively on Luzula), C. glaucicolella, C. leucapennis (feeds exclusively on Luzula), C. otidipennella (feeds exclusively on Luzula) and C. sylvaticella (feeds exclusively on L. sylvatica).
Species
- Luzula acuminata Raf. - Hairy Wood-rush
- Luzula alpinopilosa (Chaix) Breistr. - Alpine Wood-rush
- Luzula arctica Blytt - Arctic Wood-rush
- Luzula arcuata (Wahlenb.) Sw. - Curved Wood-rush
- Luzula bulbosa (Wood) Smyth & Smyth - Bulbous Wood-rush
- Luzula campestris (L.) DC. - Field Wood-rush, Good Friday Grass
- Luzula comosaLuzula comosaLuzula comosa is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common name Pacific woodrush. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Colorado, where it can be found in moist spots in forests and meadows and many other types of habitat. It is a perennial...
E. Mey. - Pacific Wood-rush - Luzula confusa Lindeberg - Northern Wood-rush
- Luzula congesta (Thuill.) Lej. - Heath Wood-rush
- Luzula crinitaLuzula crinitaLuzula crinita is a species of flowering plant in the rush family that is native to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and Australia. The specific epithet comes from the Latin crinitus , with reference to the leaves....
Hook f. - Subantarctic Wood-rush - Luzula divaricataLuzula divaricataLuzula divaricata is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common name forked woodrush. It is native to the California, Nevada, and Alaska in the United States....
S. Wats. - Forked wood-rush - Luzula echinata (Small) F.J.Herm. - Hedgehog Wood-rush
- Luzula fastigiata E. Mey. - Small-flowered Wood-rush
- Luzula forsteri - Southern Wood-rush
- Luzula glabrata (Hoppe ex Rostk.) Desv. - Smooth Wood-rush
- Luzula groenlandica Böcher - Greenland Wood-rush
- Luzula hawaiiensis Buch. - Hawai'i Wood-rush
- Luzula lactea Link ex E.H.F. Meyer
- Luzula lutea (All.) DC. - Yellow Wood-rush
- Luzula luzulina
- Luzula luzuloides (Lam.) Dandy & Wilmott - White Wood-rush
- Luzula maxima (Rich.) DC.
- Luzula multifloraLuzula multifloraLuzula multiflora, the Heath Wood-rush, is a species of flowering plant in the rush family. It is native to North America, found in Canada and all regions of the U.S. except the Southwest.- References :* * * Fl. Spa. 1:169. 1811...
(Ehrh.) Lej. - Heath Wood-rush - Luzula nivea - Snowy Wood-rush
- Luzula oresteraLuzula oresteraLuzula orestera, with the common name Sierra woodrush, is a species of flowering plant in the rush family. It is endemic to the High Sierra Nevada of California, where it grows in fellfields, talus, and other habitat in regions of subalpine and alpine climates.-Description:Luzula orestera is a...
(Sharsm.Carl SharsmithCarl W. Sharsmith was an American naturalist and Yosemite park ranger, notable for his knowledge and interpretation of the natural history of the Sierra Nevada. He taught botany at various universities, and discovered a species of flower in the Sierra.-Biography:Born Karl Wilhelm Schaarschmidt II...
) - Sierra Wood-rush - Luzula pallescens - Fen Wood-rush
- Luzula pallidula J. Kirschner - Fen Wood-rush, Eurasian Wood-rush
- Luzula parvifloraLuzula parvifloraLuzula parviflora is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common name small-flowered woodrush. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America. It grows in moist areas, often in gravelly soils...
(Ehrh.) Desv. - Small-flowered Wood-rush - Luzula pilosaLuzula pilosaLuzula pilosa is a species of flowering plant in the rush family....
(L.) Willd. - Hairy Wood-rush - Luzula piperi (Coville) M.E.Jones - Piper's Wood-rush
- Luzula rufescens Fisch. ex E.Mey. - Rufous Wood-rush
- Luzula sieberi
- Luzula spicataLuzula spicataLuzula spicata is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common name spiked woodrush. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates...
(L.) DC. - Spiked Wood-rush - Luzula subcapitata (Rydb.) Harrington - Colorado Wood-rush
- Luzula subcongestaLuzula subcongestaLuzula subcongesta is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common name Donner woodrush. It is native to the high mountains of California, from the Klamath Mountains, where its distribution extends into Oregon, to the Sierra Nevada, where it may occur just inside Nevada as well...
(S.Wats.) Jepson - Donner Wood-rush - Luzula sudetica
- Luzula sylvaticaLuzula sylvaticaLuzula sylvatica, the great wood-rush, is a plant of the genus Luzula....
(Huds.) Gaudin - Great Wood-rush - Luzula tolmatchewii Kuvaev
- Luzula wahlenbergii Rupr. - Wahlenberg's Wood-rush, Tundra Wood-rush