Luzula campestris (L.) DC.

• Authority

  Balslev, Henrik. 1996. Juncaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 68: 1-167. (Published by NYBG Press)

• Family

  Juncaceae

• Scientific Name

  Luzula campestris (L.) DC.

• Type

  Type. Europe, n.v.

• Synonyms

  Juncus campestris L., Juncodes campestre (L.) Kuntze

• Description

  Species Description - Perennial herbs to 70 cm high, cespitose with runners. Culms erect. Leaves basal and cauline, with an obtuse, callose tip. Inflorescence a few- to manyheaded anthela, once or twice branched. Stamens 6.

• Discussion

  Luzula campestris is easily recognised by its callose-tipped leaves and its inflorescence with flowers congested in heads, which are arranged in an anthela, i.e., the proximal branches overtop the distal ones. Anthelate inflorescences are common in Juncus, but in Luzula they are found only in the L. campestris complex (s.l.). Buchenau (1890, 1906) divided L. campestris into 20 varieties, many of which were said to have wide distributions and to occur in two or more continents. Four varieties were listed for North America. Fernald and Wiegand (1913) treated the North American L. campestris and accepted 10 varieties, some of which have later been treated as species (Fernald, 1945; Coffey, 1970). The few Costa Rican collections of L. campestris agree well with North American material of Luzula campestris var. multiflora deposited at NY. The Brazilian collections of L. campestris agree well with South American var. ulei, which was described from that area.

• Distribution

  In its broad circumscription, Luzula campestris occurs abundantly in the temperate regions of both hemispheres. In the New World it is trans tropical and barely reaches into the tropical zone from the north (in Costa Rica) as well as from the south (in southeastern Brazil).