Common woodrush
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Luzula multiflora (Ehrh.) Lej.
Common name(s): common woodrush, common wood-rush, woodrush, heath woodrush
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- emergence and flowering, late April/early May
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- note reddish hairy leaves
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- papery tepals (petal-like structures)
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- late May
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- early fruit, early June
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- note dark fruit
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- note variation in leaf structure and color
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- leaf hair example in poor soil
Description:
– perennial
– one of two genera of rushes in ME; Luzula is hairy, the other (Juncus) is not
– leaves often reddish in response to stressful conditions
-leaf blade width is 2-6mm
– in so. New England, may be confused with L. bulbosa or L. echinata; see left sidebar on Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-forest edges
-meadows
-fields
-woodlands
Acknowledgement(s):
Go Botany. “Luzula Multiflora (Ehrh.) Lej.” Luzula Multiflora (Common Wood Rush): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/luzula/multiflora/.
Eric T. Doucette, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Biology, MA College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA (updated Feb 2018)