Luzula DC.

Volume III (1980) - Flora of New Zealand Adventive Cyperaceous, Petalous & Spathaceous Monocotyledons

LUZULA DC.

Perennial grass-like herbs, tufted, or stoloniferous or rhizomatous, or cushion-forming. Stems glabrous, terete, erect, often with 1-2 cauline leaves. Leaves flat or channelled, almost glabrous to densely villous along margin, sheaths without auricles. Inflorescence a terminal cyme, congested to a single head, or much-branched, branches unequal with flowers clustered at tips; subtending bracts leaf-like. Flowers hermaphrodite; bracts and bractlets silver or light brown, membranous, ovate, margins ± lacerate, ± villous. Tepals 6, usually equal in length, with or without membranous margins. Stamens 3, or 6. Ovary 1-locular. Seeds 3, with a white basal caruncle (tail). A cosmopolitan genus of c.80 spp., mainly in extra-tropical regions; in the tropics at high altitudes only. Native spp.12, adventive 4.

SYNOPSIS

A. Campestris-multiflora group.
- Leaves with obtuse thickened tips. Stamens usually 6, rarely 3
- 1.
- - Seeds with conspicuous caruncle, up to ½ total length of seed
  - (a)
  - - Flowering stems elongated above leaves
    - (i)
    - - Inflorescence usually of 3-many flower-clusters:
      - 1. *campestris, 3. *flaccida, 4. *multiflora
    - (ii)
    - - Inflorescence usually a compact head:
      - 2. *congesta
  - (b)
  - - Flowering stems hidden among leaves:
    - 10. decipiens
- 2.
- - Seeds with small caruncle, 1/10-1/5 total length of seed
  - (a)
  - - Grass-like plants:
    - 5. banksiana, 9. crinita, 11. leptophylla, 12. picta, 14. rufa
  - (b)
  - - Cushion-like plants:
    - 7. colensoi, 8. crenulata, 13. pumila
B. Racemosa group.
- Leaves with acute tips. Stamens usually 3, rarely 4-6:
- 6. celata, 15. traversii, 16. ulophylla

Key

Plants in grass-like tufts with flowering stems much > leaves

Plants either cushion-like (flowering stems > or = leaves) or forming low grass-like turfs with flowering stems hidden among leaves

Seeds with conspicuous caruncle, up to ½ total length of seed; flower-clusters usually oblong, often longer than wide; flowers usually not very close-set, with flower-bases and rhachis between them visible

Seeds with comparatively minute caruncle, 1/10 to 1/5 total length of seed; flower-clusters ovate to subglobose ± as long as wide; flowers in each cluster very close-set, all borne at almost same level, with rhachis not visible

Inflorescence a large subsessile central cluster often > 1 cm diam. with 1-(3) smaller lateral clusters

2.*congesta

Inflorescence of 3-10 pedunculate, few-flowered clusters each c. 5 mm in diam.

Plants stoloniferous or rhizomatous; flowering stems and peduncles usually drooping; flowers 3-3.5 mm long

1. *campestris

Plants tufted; flowering stems and peduncles erect; flowers 2.5-3 mm long

Stems 20-30- (60) cm high; flowers not very close-set; capsules red brown

4. *multiflora

Stems 10-20- (40) cm high; flowers close-set; capsules light creamy brown

3. *flaccida

Tepals very dark brown with membranous margins scarcely any paler

9. crinita

Leaf-margins and inflorescence-bracts densely villous

var. crinita

Leaf-margins and inflorescence-bracts only slightly villous

var. petriana

Tepals light brown to red-brown, rarely dark brown at centre, usually with conspicuous paler margin

Inflorescence usually a compact head with flowers < 2.5 mm long

Inflorescence usually of 3-many flower-clusters, or a compact head with flowers 2.5-3.5 mm long

Stamens 6; inflorescence erect, many-flowered

14. rufa

Leaves 2.5-6 mm wide, margins only slightly villous

var. rufa

Leaves 1.5-2.5 mm wide, margins densely villous

var. albicomans

Stamens usually 3; inflorescence nodding or erect but 4-6-flowered

Inflorescence many-flowered, nodding pyramidal; leaves > 0.5 mm wide

15. traversii

Leaves 1-5 mm wide; stamens 3

var. traversii

Leaves < 2 mm wide; stamens 6

var. tenuis

Inflorescence few-flowered, erect, rounded; leaves < 0.5 mm wide

11. leptophylla

Plant robust, usually many-leaved; leaves usually > 3 mm wide, or if narrower very numerous

5. banksiana

Leaves usually 1-3 mm wide, stiffly erect; flowers usually < 2.5 mm long

var. rhadina

Leaves usually > 3 mm wide, drooping or spreading; flowers usually 2.5-4 mm long

Tepals dark red-brown; subtending bracts usually < inflorescence

var. migrata

Tepals silver, cream or light brown; subtending bracts usually > inflorescence

Tepals with silver-white membranous margins; flowering stems usually < 15 cm tall

var. banksiana

Tepals with cream to brownish margins; flowering stems usually 12-40 cm tall

Flower-clusters many, c. 5 × 5 mm; leaves flaccid

var. orina

Flower-clusters few, mostly c. 10 × 10 mm; leaves rigid

var. acra

Plants usually slender, few-leaved; leaves usually < 3 mm wide

12. picta

Capsules and tepals red-brown; plants stoloniferous or rhizomatous

var. limosa

Capsules light brown, tepals cream (some with dark brown central stripe); plants tufted

Tepals with conspicuous dark brown central stripe; all flower-clusters c. equal

var. picta

Tepals with very light brown central stripe; central flower-clusters > laterals

var. pallida

Flowering stems > leaves, elongating as fruit matures

Flowering stems < leaves, not, or scarcely, elongating as fruit matures

Leaves covered on margins and back with tangled white woolly hairs

16. ulophylla

Leaves hairy on margins only, occasionally almost glabrous

Leaves crowded at lower ⅓ of stem; inflorescence 4-12-(20)- flowered

13. pumila

Leaves closely imbricating for c. ⅔ length of stem; inflorescence (1) -4--(5)-flowered

8. crenulata

Leaf-tips acute; stamens 3

6. celata

Leaf-tips obtuse; stamens 6, rarely 3-4

Plants compact, cushion-like, not rhizomatous

7. colensoi

Plants turf-forming, grass-like, shortly rhizomatous or stoloniferous

10. decipiens

In general in N.Z., Luzula spp. flower between October and December and fruit is mature between November and January.

The three adventive spp. of N. Hemisphere origin are typically plants of grassy places under higher rainfall conditions, and occur in poor reverting grassland on flats and second and third class hill country, commonly associated with Agrostis tenuis, species of Notodanthonia and a range of other weedy species of sour, low fertility soils. On damp gully bottoms, one or other species at times forms dense sward-like colonies, and in some eastern South Island back country, Luzula is a not infrequent volunteer of homestead lawns, at times replacing the sown turf.

The Australian L. flaccida is restricted to, and rare and local in Marlborough under low rainfall conditions. The main components of this depleted grassland are all Australian adventives - Notodanthonia auriculata and N. geniculata, with scattered plants of the localised ephemeral Brachycome perpusilla and the more widespread Stuartina muelleri. L. flaccida should be searched for elsewhere in Marlborough and also about Banks Peninsula.

Fig. 19. LUZULA; A: L. banksiana var. orina (indigenous) portion of inflorescence with close-set flowers, A 1 seed with minute caruncle. B: L. campestris (adventive) portion of inflorescence with rhachis visible between flower bases, B 1 seed with long caruncle. © All rights reserved. [Image: 26X4]

Luzula DC.

SYNOPSIS

Key

Volume contents

Share