''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid soils, ideally pH values of between 3.5 and 5, however, it can continue to live under more extreme conditions, sometimes to as low as 2. It is common on moist heathland, bogs and moorland throughout Britain and Ireland. Introduced populations exist in northeastern and northwestern North America. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''caerulea'' means "deep blue" and refers to the purple spikelets.

Description

''Molinia caerulea'' is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

bunchgrass (tussock-forming), growing up to tall (taller when sheltered by gorse and heather), with many closely packed stems. The leaves are coarse, green, taper to a point, long, flat and sometimes slightly hairy on top. Due to the dense

tussock Tussock may refer to: * Tussock grass, a group of species in the family Poaceae *Floating island * Lymantriinae, called tussock moths or tussocks See also * Hassock (disambiguation) Hassock may refer to: * Kneeler, a cushion or a piece of f ...

it is very resistant to

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

fires. Its

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many Poaceae, grasses (Poaceae) and Cyperaceae, sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla ...

is a ring of hairs, as in heath grass ('' Danthonia decumbens''). The long narrow purple spikelets are a major identification feature – the

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

is long. It flowers between July and September, later than any other species.

Ecology

The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

s of some Lepidoptera use it as a foodplant, e.g., the chequered skipper (''Carterocephalus palaemon''). '' Claviceps purpurea'' is an ascomycetous fungus which grows on the seeds of purple moor grass. '' Purple moor grass and rush pastures'' is a United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan habitat, on account of its rarity.

Cultivation

''Molinia caerulea'' is cultivated for its

panicles A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are ...

of purple spikelets on yellow stems. In cultivation it grows to tall by broad. Numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

have been selected, of which the following have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

: *''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''arundinacea'' 'Windspiel' *''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Edith Dudszus' *''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Moorhexe' *''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Poul Petersen' *''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Variegata'

Gallery

Image:Illustration_Molinia_caerulea0.jpg Image:Molinia-caerulea.jpg Image:Molinia.jpg Image:Molinia.caerulea.jpg Image:Molinia.caerulea.2.jpg Image:Molinia.caerulea.3.jpg Image:molinia_caerulea.jpeg,

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

Image:molinia_caerulea_habitus.jpeg, Habitus (German Horst) Image:molinia_caerulea_blatt.jpeg, Leaf and vegetative parts Image:Molinia-caerulea-habitat.JPG, ''Molinia caerulea'' at natural habitat near Silkeborg, Denmark. File:Claviceps microcephala.jpg, Sclerotium of ''Claviceps purpurea'' which grows on the seeds of purple moor grass.

References

* *

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q157772 Molinieae Bunchgrasses of Europe Bunchgrasses of Africa Bunchgrasses of Asia Flora of North Africa Flora of Western Asia Garden plants of Europe Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Africa Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus