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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE RUSH FAMILY | |||||||||
| The rushes are generally widespread in Saskatchewan in moist habitats such as lakeshores, riverbanks, and sloughs. These plants may look like grasses because the leaves are long and linear. The leaves are in three vertical rows, instead of two vertical rows like in the grasses. The flowers are small and plain. The tepals are usually green or brown and papery in texture. The flowers are clustered into heads and then into branched or unbranched inflorescences. The inflorescences are subtended by bracts. In some species, the bracts are leaf-like and make the inflorescence look like it is coming from the side of the stem instead of the top. The fruit is a capsule. | |||||||||
| COMMON WOODRUSH | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Luzula multiflora ssp. frigida | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Common woodrush grows as tall as 40 cm from rhizomes. The stems are tufted and may be somewhat enlarged at the base. The basal leaves are up to 12 cm long and 6 mm wide. There are two to three stem leaves that may be the equal to or slightly longer than the inflorescence. The stem leaves have hardened tips. The inflorescence is usually made of one large cluster and some smaller clusters of flowers. The lowermost bract is leaf-like. The outer and inner tepals are almost the same length, but the outer tepals may be longer than the inner. All of the tepals are chestnut or blackish-brown. The anthers are not more than twice the length of the filament. The capsules are pale brown to black and release seeds with long, curved, tail-like structures. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Common woodrush grows in fields, meadows, and open woods. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in northern Saskatchewan in the Selwyn Lake Upland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Common woodrush is vulnerable in Saskatchewan because it is regionally restricted in the province and is only known from one location. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY COMMON WOODRUSH | |||||||||
| * Are do the leaves have hardened tips? * Are the flowers in dense clusters? * Are the tepals chestnut brown to blackish-brown? * Did you find it in northern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found common woodrush!! | |||||||||
