Part 6. JUNCACEAE 1: Rostkovia to Luzula - Species Plantarum ...

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SPECIES PLANTARUM — FLORA OF THE WORLD (2002)
Subg. 1. MARLENIA
Luzula subg. Marlenia Ebinger, Brittonia 15: 173 (1963)
Ebingeria Chrtek & Křísa, Preslia 46: 210 (1974). T: Luzula elegans Lowe
Luzula sect. Triprophyllatae Satake in T.Nakai & M.Honda, Nov. Fl. Jap. 1: 25 (1938). T: Luzula purpurea
E.Mey.
Annuals. Leaves acute; apex extending to a hair, sometimes two hairs; leaf margin without
sclerenchyma. Inflorescence cymose; flowers borne singly, terminal. Endodermis with walls
evenly thickened (O-shaped in T.S.). Seeds smooth; appendage absent. n = 3.
A monotypic, remarkably distinct subgenus. The only species, Luzula elegans, is native to
Macaronesia and introduced to Portugal.
1. Luzula elegans Lowe, Trans. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 6: 532 (1838)
Ebingeria elegans (Lowe) Chrtek & Křísa, Preslia 46: 211 (1974). T: [Madeira] ‘in rupibus convallium
Maderae murisque rarior’; [no locality] 8 May 1838, R.T.Lowe 646; syn: BM.
Luzula purpurea Link [in C.L. von Buch] ex E.Mey., Linnaea 22: 397 (1849); Juncoides purpurea (E.Mey.)
Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 725 (1891). T: [Canary Is.] La Palma, Orotava, C.L.Buch; syn: n.v.; Tenerife,
Forsyth; syn: K, n.v.; Tenerife, Lenormand; syn: LE, n.v.
Luzula berthelotii Nees ex Kunth, Enum. Pl. 3: 298 (1841). T: ‘In sylva de las Mercedes Insulae
Teneriffae’; Tenerife, P.B.Webb; holo: B, destroyed; iso: K, BM.
Illustration: F.G.P.Buchenau, in H.G.A.Engler, Pflanzenr. (iv.36) 25: 50, fig. 40 (1906); J.E.Ebinger,
Brittonia 15: 170, fig. 1, 3, 172, fig. 5, 8, 9 (1963).
Map: H.Meusel, E.Jäger & E.Weinert, Vergl. Chorol. Zentraleur. Fl. 1: 87 (1965).
Annuals, usually 1–2-stemmed, 8–17 (–25) cm. Basal leaves several, to 12 cm long, 1.2–2.8 mm
wide. Cauline leaves 2–4, to 10 cm long, to c. 2.5–3.0 mm wide; margins ±smooth, sparsely
hairy, with hairs long, especially near sheath mouth; apex acute, usually ±extended to a
single or sometimes two hairs. Inflorescence bract herbaceous, c. 2–4 cm long, surrounding
pseudorhachis; middle bracts purplish-membranous with scarious ciliate margins. Bracteoles
purplish-membranous, ovate, acuminate, c. 2.0–2.5 mm long. Inflorescence a loose divaricate
panicle usually 5–13 cm long, almost evenly branched or distally denser; branches thin, smooth;
flowers borne singly. Tepals ±equal or outer slightly longer, ±ovate, with outer tepals purplish
with decreasing colour intensity towards membranous margins, (2.4–) 2.7–2.9 (–3.2) mm long,
acute and mucronate; midrib usually distinctly papillose near apex; inner tepals wholly
translucent-membranous or midrib purplish; apex usually emarginate and mucronate.
Stamens 6; anthers 0.3–0.5 mm long; filaments 0.4–0.8 mm long; style 0.2–0.3 mm long;
stigmas 0.3–0.5 mm long, not exserted. Capsule ovoid-subglobose, pale brown to pale
purplish, thin-walled, ±acute to subobtuse; segments 1.4–1.8 mm long, c. 1.3–1.5 mm wide;
mucro short. Seeds subglobular 0.8–0.9 × 0.6–0.7 mm long, smooth, shining, pale
castaneous-brown; appendage absent. 2n=6, fide N.Malheiros & D.Castro, Nature 160: 156
(1947); H.Nordenskiöld, Hereditas 37: 327 (1951).
Native to Madeira, Canary Is. (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Gomera, Hierro, La Palma),
naturalized in Portugal (Estremadura and Coimbra). 12: por. 21: CNY, MDR. On rocks, walls,
dry slopes, along paths. Map 16.
12. PORTUGAL: Coimbra, 1879, Moller (WU); Estremadura, Sacavém, Quinta dos Almastéres, 26 Apr 1946,
Fontés & Rainha (LD). 21. CANARY IS: Tenerife, El Boquerón, 6 Mar 1988, R.Lindberg (S); Tenerife,
Güímar, Barranco del Río, 25 Apr 1933, E.Asplund (S, UPS); Gran Canaria, between San Mateo and
Valsequillo, 1250 m, C.C.Townsend 78/2 (K); Hierro, from Valverde to Frontera, C.E.Jarvis & Murphy 298
(BM); Hierro, El Golfo, Risco de Jinama, J.F.N.Bornmüller [Pl. Exs. Canar.] 2907 (LD, P, PR);
La Palma, Barranco de las Angustias, 1000 m, Mar 1906, C.-J.M.Pitard 694 (SAM). MADEIRA: Madeira,
between Ribeira Frio and Balcoes, 1100 m, 29 Apr 1952, G.Een & Persson (S); Madeira, São Roque,
G.Mandon [Pl. Mader.] 248 (K, P, PR).
In many respects close to the N African Luzula atlantica (2n=12). The chromosome number
of L. elegans is unique in the genus, and there is a plausible suggestion that the number is a
result of chromosome fusion.