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

JUNCACEAE (Luzula)
Illustration: H.Balslev in Fl. Ecuador 11: 17, fig. 5 (1979).
Perennials up to 60 cm tall, caespitose, hairy; rhizome vertical or ascending; stolons absent.
Stem thick, rigidly erect, with only the uppermost part nodding. Basal leaves numerous,
often squarrose, rigid, flat or canaliculate, usually 5–10 cm long and 2–4 mm wide; cauline
leaves 2–4, densely hairy, to 13 cm long, evenly distributed on stem, often overlapping; all
leaves acute, indistinctly papillose-serrulate. Lower bract herbaceous, densely hairy, up to 5 cm
long, overtopping inflorescence; middle bracts supporting flower clusters purplish-brownish
membranous, lanceolate, aristate, densely ciliate, c. 0.8–1.5 (–2.0) cm long, often exceeding
the partial inflorescence. Inflorescence erect to slightly nodding, compact (rhachis usually not
visible), usually 2.5–5 × c. 1.5 cm, often lobulate, rarely interrupted at base, dark castaneous
brown, composed of c. 3–8 dense clusters. Bracteoles castaneous-membranous, ovatelanceolate,
aristate, 2.0–2.5 mm, long ciliate. Tepals subequal or irregularly unequal, lanceolate,
acuminate and aristate, usually ciliate, dark castaneous brown; upper part membranous with
prominent midrib; longest tepals in flower 3.0–4.4 mm long. Stamens 3; anthers 0.3–0.4 mm
long; filaments 0.6–0.9 mm long; style 0.1–0.2 mm long; stigma 0.5–1.1 mm long. Capsule
oblong-ovoid, subacute to obtuse, paler brown; capsule segments 1.8–2.2 × 1.3–1.4 mm.
Seeds paler brown, with darker apex, ellipsoidal, 1.1–1.4 mm long, c. 0.7 mm wide;
appendage scarcely visible, c. 0.1 mm long, densely long fibrillate (seeds difficult to release
from capsule).
Centred to Ecuador and Peru, rare in Colombia, Bolivia and northernmost Argentina, with an
isolated station in C Mexico; further exploration needed. 79: MXC. 83: BOL, CLM, ECU,
PER. 85: AGW. In páramos, grasslands, rocky slopes, usually between 3800 and 4500 m.
Map 71.
79. MEXICO CENTRAL: Tlaxcala, Malinche, 4400–4450 m, J.H.Beaman 2223 (UPS). 83. BOLIVIA: La
Paz, Murillo, Laguna Zongo, 4740 m, J.Brandbyge 582 (AAU). ECUADOR: Chimborazo, Mt Chimborazo,
4550 m, E.Asplund 7938 (S, UPS); Pichincha, Páramo de Guamani, 3800–4100 m, H.Balslev 1618 (AAU);
Imbabura, Volcán Cotocachi, 3900–4100 m, S.Laegaard 54498 (AAU). PERU: Puno, Araranca,
4100–4300 m, F.W.Pennell 13456 (S); Huaron, 4500 m, J.F.Macbride & F.Featherstone 1132 (S); Ancash,
Carhuaz, Quebrada Ulta, 4400–4600 m, D.N.Smith 11338 (AAU, MO). 85. ARGENTINA NORTHWEST:
Salta, Santa Victoria, Cochita, Ruta 5, foot of cerro Campanario, 30-35 km W of Santa Victoria, 4100–4200 m,
L.J.Novara 6683 (MCNS); Tucumán, Cumbres Calchaquíes, Callejones, 18 Feb 1915, L.Castillón (LIL 50636).
Variable, and in many features similar to L. racemosa. Main diagnostic characters are its
ciliate longer tepals, longer seeds with smaller, densely fibrillate appendage, and the habit of
the inflorescence. Flowers of both species indicate autogamy but intermediates of unknown
nature are known from Ecuador and Peru.
42. Luzula vulcanica Liebm., Vidensk. Meddel. Dansk Naturhist. Foren. Kjøbenhavn 2:
44 (1850)
T: Mexico, Veracruz, Mt. Orizaba, 4250 m, F.Liebmann; lecto: C, fide H.Balslev, Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 68: 65
(1996) [as ‘holo’]; isolecto: C, GH, HAL, K, P, S.
Illustration: H.Balslev, Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 68: 66, fig. 34, A, B (1996).
Map: H.Balslev, Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 68: 63, fig. 32 (1996).
Perennials c. 10–45 cm tall, sparsely hairy; rhizome ascending to erect; stolons usually long,
ascending. Stems erect, often slightly curved near the top (in the opposite direction to the
nodding inflorescence). Basal leaves 3–15 cm long, usually 2–4 mm wide; cauline leaves
usually 2, usually in upper half of stem, 1–5 (–11) cm long; all leaves acute, with papilloseserrulate
margins. Bracts all scarious; lower bract membranous or castaneous (purplish),
broadly lanceolate, c. 1 cm long, fimbriate-ciliate. Inflorescence a terminal spike like head,
dark (reddish) castaneous brown, 1–4 × 0.5–1.2 cm, usually of 2–5 clusters, congested to
slightly interrupted, suberect, if nodding then only the inflorescence not the upper part of
stem. Bracteoles 1.5–2.0 mm long, usually castaneous-membranous. Tepals dark, reddishblackish,
subequal, glabrous, usually 2.7–3.7 mm long, acuminate. Stamens 3; anthers
0.4–0.5 mm long; filaments 0.8–1.0 mm long; style 0.1–0.2 mm long; stigmas c. 0.5–0.8 mm
long. Capsule oblong-ovoid, ±trigonous above, paler castaneous; capsule segments 1.6–1.9 ×
79