''Luzula crinita '' is a species of flowering plant in the

rush family Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genus, genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble Poaceae, ...

that is native to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

comes from the Latin ''crinitus'' (hairy tufted), with reference to the

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

Description

''Luzula crinita'' is a perennial

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

growing in stiff, dark green clumps 40–450 mm in height. The leaves have incurved edges, with long marginal hairs. The inflorescence is usually a single, rounded, brownish-black head with densely crowded florets and a hairy

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

eole margin. The flowers are 2–2.5 mm long, with six stamens. The tepals and capsule are dark brown.

Distribution and habitat

The plant is found on New Zealand's

Antipodes In geography, the antipode () of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' () to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Ear ...

, Auckland and Campbell Islands, as well as on Australia's Macquarie Island. It grows in ''

Agrostis ''Agrostis'' (bent or bentgrass) is a large and very nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family, found in nearly all the countries in the world. It has been bred as a GMO creeping bent grass. Species * '' Agrostis aequivalvi'' ...

'' grassland, in fellfield and along the margins of marshes, from sea level to an altitude of 370 m. It flowers from October to January.

References

crinita ''Crinita'' is a genus of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae The AcrididaeMacLeay WS (1821) ''Horae Entomologicae or Essays on the Annulose Animals'' 2 are the predominant family of grasshoppers, comprising some 10,000 of the 1 ...

Flora of the Auckland Islands Flora of the Antipodes Islands Flora of Macquarie Island Flora of the Campbell Islands Poales of Australia Plants described in 1844 {{Poales-stub