Luzula sylvatica | |
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Great wood-rush (Luzula sylvatica) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Monocots |
(unranked): | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Juncaceae |
Genus: | Luzula |
Species: | L. sylvatica |
Binomial name | |
Luzula sylvatica (Huds.) Gaudin, 1762 |
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Synonyms | |
Luzula sylvatica, commonly known as greater wood-rush or great wood-rush, is a perennialflowering plant in the rush family Juncaceae.
With regards to the etymology of the binomial, Luzula could come from the Italian ("to shine, sparkle") or the Latin or , from ("light"), inspired by the way the plants sparkle when wet with dew; whilst sylvatica comes from , Latin for forest.
Luzula sylvatica is the largest woodrush, with stems 30–80 centimetres (12–31 in) high. It forms clumps of bright green leaves which are glossy, flat, linear, about 10–30 centimetres (3.9–11.8 in) in length and 1 centimetre (0.39 in) wide; its leaves remain green or at least greenish throughout winter. The leaves can also help to differentiate the plant from similar-looking plants in the closely related Juncus genus, as scattered white hairs can be found along the leaf edges. Its tepals are 3–3.5 millimetres (0.12–0.14 in), with flowers which grow in groups of 3 or 4. From mid-spring to summer,L. sylvatica produces flowers in open panicles which are very small, chestnut-brown in colour and can be found in dense and lax clusters.L. sylvatica is sometimes stoloniferous.
Luzula sylvatica is both anemophilous and entomophilous, in that it can be pollinated by either wind or insect.L. sylvatica's fruit is a 3-valved capsule containing three oblong seeds. Each seed is indistinctly , often with a (a basal or apical appendage); seeds tend to germinate close to their parent plant.