''Luzula'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the rush family

Juncaceae Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble grasses and ...

. The genus has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

, with species occurring throughout the world, especially in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions, the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

, and higher elevation areas in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

. Plants of the genus are known commonly as wood-rush, wood rush, or woodrush.''Luzula''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Possible origins of the genus name include the Italian ''lucciola'' ("to shine, sparkle") or the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''luzulae'' or ''luxulae'', from ''lux'' ("light"), inspired by the way the plants sparkle when wet with

dew Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening due to condensation. As the exposed surface cools by thermal radiation, radiating its heat, atmospheric moisture condenses at a rate grea ...

. Another etymology sometimes given is that it does derive from ''lucciola'' but that this meant a mid-summer field, or from the

''luculus'', meaning a small place; the same source also states that this name was applied by

Luigi Anguillara Luigi Anguillara, actually Luigi Squalermo, (born c. 1512 in Anguillara Sabazia, died September 1570 in Ferrara) was an Italian botanist. Life Little is known about Anguillara's early life. From 1539, he is attested at the private botanical gar ...

(an Italian

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

) in 1561. These rushes are usually

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

s with

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s and sometimes

stolon In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...

s. They generally form clumps of cylindrical stems and narrow leaves with hair-lined edges. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is often a dense cluster of flowers with two leaf-like

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s at the base, or sometimes a solitary flower or a few flowers borne together. They have six brownish tepals.''Luzula''.
The Jepson eFlora 2013. ''Luzula'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species, including the smoky wainscot. Several moths of the genus ''

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. Many authors have t ...

'' have been observed on the plants. '' Coleophora biforis'' and '' C. otidipennella'' feed exclusively on ''Luzula''. '' C. antennariella'' is limited to ''Luzula pilosa'', and '' C. sylvaticella'' feeds only on ''L. sylvatica''. Some species, notably ''

Luzula sylvatica ''Luzula sylvatica'', commonly known as greater wood-rush or great wood-rush, is a perennial flowering plant in the rush family Juncaceae. Description ''Luzula sylvatica'' is the largest woodrush, with stems high. It forms clumps of bright gr ...

'' and its cultivars, are used as ornamental garden plants.

Species

There are around 140 species in the genus: *'' Luzula abchasica'' Novikov *'' Luzula abyssinica'' Parl. *'' Luzula acuminata'' Raf. *'' Luzula acutifolia'' H. Nordensk. *'' Luzula africana'' Drège ''ex'' Steud. *'' Luzula alopecuroides'' Desv. *'' Luzula alopecurus'' Desv. *'' Luzula alpestris'' H. Nordensk. *'' Luzula alpina'' Hoppe *'' Luzula alpinopilosa'' (Chaix) Breistr. *'' Luzula antarctica'' Hook. f. *'' Luzula arcuata'' (Wahlenb.) Sw. *'' Luzula atlantica'' Braun-Blanq. *'' Luzula atrata'' Edgar *'' Luzula australasica'' Steud. *'' Luzula banksiana'' E. Mey. *'' Luzula × bogdanii'' Kirschner *'' Luzula bomiensis'' K. F. Wu *'' Luzula × bornmuelleriana'' Kük. *'' Luzula × borreri'' Bromf. ''ex'' Bab. *'' Luzula brachyphylla'' Phil. *'' Luzula bulbosa'' (Alph. Wood) Smyth & L. C. Smyth *'' Luzula caespitosa'' (E. Mey.) Steud. *'' Luzula calabra'' Ten. *'' Luzula campestris'' (L.) DC. *'' Luzula canariensis'' Poir. *'' Luzula capitata'' (Miq. ''ex'' Franch. & Sav.) Kom. *'' Luzula caricina'' E. Mey. *'' Luzula celata'' Edgar *'' Luzula chilensis'' Nees & Meyen ''ex'' Kunth *'' Luzula colensoi'' Hook. f. *'' Luzula comosa'' E. Mey. *'' Luzula confusa'' Lindeb. *'' Luzula congesta'' (Thuill.) Lej. *'' Luzula crenulata'' Buchenau *'' Luzula crinita'' Hook. f. *'' Luzula × danica'' H. Nordensk. & Kirschner *'' Luzula decipiens'' Edgar *'' Luzula densiflora'' (H. Nordensk.) Edgar *'' Luzula denticulata'' Liebm. *'' Luzula desvauxii'' Kunth *'' Luzula divaricata'' S. Watson *'' Luzula divulgata'' Kirschner *'' Luzula divulgatiformis'' Bačič & Jogan *'' Luzula echinata'' (Small) F. J. Herm. *'' Luzula ecuadoriensis'' Balslev *'' Luzula effusa'' Buchenau *'' Luzula elegans'' Lowe *'' Luzula excelsa'' Buchenau *'' Luzula exspectata'' Bačič & Jogan *''

Luzula fallax ''Luzula'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rush family Juncaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring throughout the world, especially in temperate climate, temperate regions, the Arctic, and higher elevation ...

'' Kirschner *'' Luzula × favratii'' K. Richt. *'' Luzula flaccida'' (Buchenau) Edgar *'' Luzula formosana'' Ohwi *'' Luzula forsteri'' (Sm.) DC. *'' Luzula × gayana'' Font Quer & Rothm. *'' Luzula gigantea'' Desv. *'' Luzula glabrata'' (Hoppe) Desv. *'' Luzula groenlandica'' Böcher *'' Luzula × hasleri'' Murr *'' Luzula hawaiiensis'' Buchenau *'' Luzula × heddae'' Kirschner *'' Luzula × hermannii-muelleri'' Asch. & Graebn. *'' Luzula hitchcockii'' Hämet-Ahti *'' Luzula × hybrida'' H. Lindb. ''ex'' Kirschner *'' Luzula ignivoma'' Kirschner *'' Luzula inaequalis'' K. F. Wu *'' Luzula indica'' Kirschner *'' Luzula jimboi'' Miyabe & Kudo *'' Luzula × johannis-principis'' Murr *'' Luzula johnstonii'' Buchenau *'' Luzula kjellmaniana'' Miyabe & Kudo *'' Luzula kobayasii'' Satake *'' Luzula lactea'' (Link) E. Mey. *'' Luzula leiboldii'' Buchenau *'' Luzula leptophylla'' Buchenau & Petrie *'' Luzula × levieri'' Asch. & Graebn. *'' Luzula longiflora'' Benth. *'' Luzula lutea'' (All.) DC. *'' Luzula lutescens'' (Koidz.) Kirschner & Miyam. *'' Luzula luzulina'' (Vill.) Racib. *'' Luzula luzuloides'' (Lam.) Dandy & Wilmott *'' Luzula mannii'' (Buchenau) Kirschner & Cheek *'' Luzula masafuerana'' Skottsb. *'' Luzula × media'' Kirschner *'' Luzula melanocarpa'' Desv. *'' Luzula mendocina'' Barros *'' Luzula meridionalis'' H. Nordensk. *'' Luzula modesta'' Buchenau *'' Luzula multiflora'' (Ehrh.) Lej. *'' Luzula nipponica'' (Satake) Kirschner & Miyam. *'' Luzula nivalis'' (Laest.) Spreng. *'' Luzula nivea'' (Nathh.) DC. *'' Luzula nodulosa'' E. Mey. *'' Luzula novae-cambriae'' Gand. *'' Luzula oligantha'' Sam. *'' Luzula orestera'' Sharsm. *'' Luzula ostenii'' (Mattf.) Herter *'' Luzula ovata'' Edgar *'' Luzula pallescens'' Sw. *'' Luzula papuana'' M. E. Jansen *'' Luzula parviflora'' (Ehrh.) Desv. *'' Luzula pedemontana'' Boiss. & Reut. *'' Luzula pediformis'' (Chaix) DC. *'' Luzula peruviana'' Desv. *'' Luzula × pfaffii'' Murr *'' Luzula philippinensis'' M. E. Jansen *'' Luzula picta'' A. Rich. *'' Luzula pilosa'' (L.) Willd. *'' Luzula pindica'' (Hausskn.) Chrtek & Krísa *'' Luzula piperi'' (Coville) M. E. Jones *'' Luzula plumosa'' E. Mey. *'' Luzula poimena'' W. M. Curtis *'' Luzula pumila'' Hook. f. *'' Luzula purpureosplendens'' Seub. *'' Luzula racemosa'' Desv. *'' Luzula × romanica'' J. Dvorák & Vorel *'' Luzula rufa'' Edgar *'' Luzula rufescens'' Fisch. ''ex'' E. Mey. *'' Luzula ruiz-lealii'' Barros *'' Luzula seubertii'' Lowe *'' Luzula × sichuanensis'' K. F. Wu *'' Luzula × somedana'' Fern-Carv. & Fern. Prieto *''

Luzula spicata ''Luzula 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 Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America. It grows in suba ...

'' (L.) DC. *'' Luzula stenophylla'' Steud. *'' Luzula subcapitata'' (Rydb.) H. D. Harr. *'' Luzula subcongesta'' (S. Watson) Jeps. *'' Luzula subsessilis'' (S. Watson) Buchenau *'' Luzula sudetica'' (Willd.) Schult. *''

'' (Huds.) Gaudin *'' Luzula taiwaniana'' Satake *'' Luzula taurica'' (V. I. Krecz.) Novikov *'' Luzula traversii'' (Buchenau) Cheeseman *'' Luzula tristachya'' Desv. *'' Luzula ulei'' Buchenau *'' Luzula ulophylla'' (Buchenau) Cockayne & Laing *'' Luzula × vinesii'' Murr *'' Luzula vulcanica'' Liebm. *'' Luzula wahlenbergii'' Rupr. *'' Luzula × wettsteinii'' Buchenau

References

External links

* {{Authority control Poales genera