WOOD RUSH
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| File Size: 72 KB |
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Luzula bulbosa (Alph. Wood ) Smyth & Smyth
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| Woodson County, Kansas |
| Perennial |
| Height: 4-18 inches |
| Family: Juncaceae - Rush Family |
| Flowering Period: April, May, June |
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| Also Called: | | Bulbous woodrush. | | Culms: | | Erect, 1-5 per plant. | | Leaves: | | Few, flat, linear-lanceolate, grass-like; basal leaves 2 to 10 inches long, 1/12 to 1/4 inch wide; stem leaves 2-4, 1 to 4 inches long, to 1/4 inch wide; tips pointed; margins sparsely to densely long-hairy, especially near throat. | | Inflorescences: | | Clusters, 3-20, head-like to often short-cylindric, 6-20-flowered, terminating branches; branches simple, erect or ascending; bracts 1-3, leaf-like, at base of each branch. | | Flowers: | | Perianths deep brown; bracts at bases of perianths 1-2, small, triangular, scarcely if at all projecting beyond flowers; perianth segments 6, shiny, similar in shape and color, not always equal length; centers chestnut; margins and tips transparent; stamens 6. | | Fruits: | | Capsule, egg-shaped, lustrous, straw-colored to dark brown, usually exceeding perianth; seeds 3, elliptic, dark brown, with oily appendages. | | Habitat: | | Woods, thickets and clearings; on slopes, upland ridges, or in low valleys; dry acid soils; chert, granite or sandstone. | | Distribution: | | South-east 1/4 of Kansas. | | Uses: | | The Iroquios would use wood rush in a decoction that was taken to enhance one's strength when punishing someone "bewitched". | | Comments: | | The rhizomes have swollen, whitish, bulb-like structures. The seeds of some Luzula species are dispersed by ants. The ants are attracted to the oily appendages on the seeds. |
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| Wood rush inflorescence |  | | 75 KB | | Woodson County, Kansas |
| | Wood rush infloresence |  | | 66 KB | | Woodson County, Kansas |
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