Luzula luzuloides

Whitish Wood-rush ( Luzula luzuloides )

The Whitish or White Wood-rush ( Luzula luzuloides, formerly Luzula albida ) is a plant from the family of Rushes ( Juncaceae ).

Description

This scoring the Süßgrasartigen plant has a noticeable whitish or reddish flowers, but are not snow white like the snow white wood rush ( Luzula nivea ). The plant is 30 to 70 inches high. The leaves are ciliated three to four, exceptionally up to six millimeters wide and strong fitting. The spread-out, two to four millimeters long flowers are in two-to achtblütigen, loosely composed clumps with whitish, yellowish or reddish husks.

Subspecies

• Common Wood-rush Luzula Whitish luzuloides subsp. luzuloides, widespread

• Flushed whitish wood rush Luzula luzuloides subsp. rubella ( Mert. & WDJ Koch) Holub = Luzula luzuloides subsp. cuprina ( Asch. & Graebn. ) Chrtek & Krisa = Luzula luzuloides var erythranthema Wallr. , has reddish glumes and differing habitat requirements. It grows in dwarf shrub - scrub and grassland in high mountain range of the Alps and higher.

Ecology

The plant is sociable ago in species-poor beech woods of beech- oak forests. They inhabited lime-free, moderately fresh, relatively nutrient-poor, acidic to moderately acidic, humus-rich musty and medium enigmatic, stony - sandy loam soils.

It is a semi-shade to shade - plant especially in mountain forests, which reaches into the Alps to 1850 meters altitude. The whitish wood rush tolerates large fluctuations of temperature and humidity of the day and year. The Hemikryptophyt wintered in with buds or just below the surface. Bloom time is from June to July, the spread is done by myrmecochory.

Occurrence

The whitish wood rush inhabited large parts of Central Europe and the southern Northern Europe, to the Carpathians and the Balkans. In North America it was introduced. In Germany it is common, in the Upper Rhine Valley and the North German lowlands, however rare or absent.