Luzula sylvatica

Luzula sylvatica is the largest woodrush, with stems {{convert|30|-|80|cm}} high. It forms clumps of bright green leaves which are glossy, flat, linear,{{cite web|url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1205 |title=RHS Plant Selector Luzula sylvatica 'Marginata' (v) |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |accessdate=6 November 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109095457/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1205 |archivedate=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead }} about {{convert|10|-|30|cm}} in length and {{convert|1|cm|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 genus Juncus, as scattered white hairs can be found along the leaf edges. Its tepals are {{convert|3|-|3.5|mm}}, with flowers which grow in groups of 3 or 4.{{cite web|url=http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/juncaceae/luzula-sylvatica.htm |title=Luzula sylvatica |publisher=West Highland Flora |accessdate=April 3, 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030084904/http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/juncaceae/luzula-sylvatica.htm |archivedate=30 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} It flowers from mid-spring to summer.{{cite web|url=http://davisla.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/plant-of-the-week-luzula-sylvatica/ |title=Plant of the Week: Luzula sylvatica |publisher=WordPress.com |work=LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE BLOG |accessdate=6 November 2013 |author=Davis Landscape Architecture |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109095543/http://davisla.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/plant-of-the-week-luzula-sylvatica/ |archivedate=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead }} It produces flowers in open panicles which are very small, chestnut-brown in colour and can be found in dense and lax clusters. It is sometimes stoloniferous.

Luzula sylvatica can be pollinated by either wind or insects. L. sylvatica's fruit is a 3-valved capsule containing three oblong seeds. Each seed is indistinctly reticulate, often with a caruncle (a basal or apical appendage); seeds tend to germinate close to their parent plant.

With regard to the etymology of the binomial, Luzula could come from the Italian lucciola ("to shine, sparkle") or the Latin luzulae or luxulae, from lux ("light"), inspired by the way the plants sparkle when wet with dew;{{cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=119122|title=Luzula in Flora of North America|work=Flora of North America|publisher=eFloras.org|pages=225–226|volume=22|accessdate=27 November 2013}} whilst sylvatica comes from silva, Latin for forest.

Luzula sylvatica has a wide distribution, and is native to Europe (the European temperate element of flora {{cite web|url=http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/4050 |title=Luzula sylvatica |work=Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora |accessdate=8 November 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109100922/http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/4050 |archivedate=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}) and southwest Asia{{cite web|url=http://public.wsu.edu/~lohr/wcl/grasses/luzula/luzula.html |title=Luzula sylvatica Greater woodrush |publisher=Washington State University |work=Hardy Plants for Waterwise Landscapes |accessdate=8 November 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109094223/http://public.wsu.edu/~lohr/wcl/grasses/luzula/luzula.html |archivedate=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead }} - including the British Isles where populations are widespread and stable, apart from a decline in central and south east England. There is one record from Washington state, United States.

Usually growing in partial to full shade, Luzula sylvatica tends to grow on acidic soils in damp habitats. It can be found on stream banks and well-drained, open woodland, as well as in open ground and rock ledges and peaty heath moors. Despite its preference for acidic soils, it can tolerate most soil pH levels.

The leaves of Luzula sylvatica are picked in winter by golden eagles to line their eyries. The flowers and seeds are also the sole food source for the larvae of the Coleophora sylvaticella moth.{{cite web|url=http://www.hantsmoths.org.uk/species/0580.php |title=Hants Moths - 0580 Coleophora sylvaticella |work=Hants Moths |accessdate=6 November 2013 |last=Wall |first=Mike |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111091210/http://www.hantsmoths.org.uk/species/0580.php |archivedate=11 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}

Luzula sylvatica is commonly used in horticulture — its thick, patch-forming habit (which allows the plant to act as a weed suppressant),{{cite web|url=http://www.perennials.com/plants/luzula-sylvatica.html |title=Plant Profile for Luzula sylvatica - Greater Wood Rush Perennial |publisher=Perennials.com |accessdate=15 November 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203015926/http://www.perennials.com/plants/luzula-sylvatica.html |archivedate=3 December 2013 |url-status=dead }} hardiness, as well as the ability to grow in shade and damp soils being particular boons; it is commonly used for ground cover and/or as an ornamental grass.

The cultivar 'Marginata' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{cite web

| url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/66734/i-Luzula-sylvatica-i-Marginata-(v)/Details

| title = RHS Plantfinder - Luzula sylvatica 'Marginata' | accessdate=29 March 2018}}{{cite web

| url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017

| page = 62 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | accessdate = 25 March 2018}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Luzula sylvatica}}

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sylvatica

Category:Flora of Europe

Category:Flora of Western Asia

Category:Plants described in 1762

Category:Garden plants of Asia

Category:Garden plants of Europe