Species Image Gallery
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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.
 
MANY-FLOWERED WOODRUSH
 
  LATIN NAME:    Luzula multiflora ssp. multiflora
 
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
 
Many-flowered 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 pale brown or straw-coloured. The anthers are not more than twice the length of the filament. The capsules are pale brown to straw-coloured and release seeds with long, curved, tail-like structures
 
WHERE DOES IT GROW?
 
Many-flowered woodrush grows in fields, meadows, and open woods.
 
WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN?
 
This species is found throughout Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland, Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Athabasca Plain, and Selwyn Lake Upland ecoregions.
 
WHY IS IT RARE?
 
Many-flowered woodrush is vulnerable in Saskatchewan because it is rare or uncommon in the province and most local populations are small.
 
HOW TO IDENTIFY MANY-FLOWERED WOODRUSH
  * Are do the leaves have hardened tips?
* Are the flowers in dense clusters?
* Are the tepals pale brown to straw-coloured?
* Did you find it in a field, meadow, or open woods?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found many-flowered woodrush!