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Species of the Month - April 2019 Hairy Woodrush Luzula pilosa
Woodrushes (Luzula sp.) differ from Rushes (Juncus sp.) in having long white hairs on the leaves, which are grass-like. The 4 common woodrush species all come out early in the year; they are Field Woodrush (Apr 2016 Species of the Month), Great Woodrush, Heath Woodrush and Hairy Woodrush. Hairy Woodrush is small like Field and Heath Woodrushes, but has each flower on its own individual stalk. The flowers are not at all clustered together but radiate out from the top of the stem. In Field and Heath Woodrushes the flowers are in clusters at the end of stalks, or directly at the stem top. Great Woodrush (Luzula sylvatica) also has flowers on individual stalks, but this is a much larger plant whose broad dark green leaves carpet the ground in woodland and whose stems are sturdy with a branched inflorescence, the flower stalks radiating from the tips of each branch. Hairy Woodrush is a delicate little plant, usually found in small numbers on shady banks or woodland edge.
The flowers are like those of rushes, with 6 brown
tepals (not differentiated into petals and sepals), 6 stamens and 3
stigmas. The tepals have a broad whitish edge and are about 3-4 mm
long.
These flowers are at an earlier stage, showing the 3
stigmas. From our LNHG field trip at Ford in April 2016.
The seed-capsules are green and much longer than the
tepals.
It is an attractive plant in full bloom, with the flower stalks in all directions, the older ones curving downwards.
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Carl Farmer
Apr 2018
- Three-nerved Sandwort
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