''Luzula parviflora'' is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common name small-flowered woodrush. It has a northern circumboreal distribution.

Description

It is a perennial herb forming grasslike clumps of several erect stems up to half a meter in maximum height surrounded by many grasslike leaves. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is an open array of many clusters of brown flowers on long branches.

Distribution

It has a circumboreal distribution, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere in northern

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, Asia and North America. It grows in moist areas, often on gravelly soils. It occurs at low elevations in colder regions, such as

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

; farther south it is restricted mainly to high mountains. It can grow in highly disturbed habitat, as evidenced by its ability to survive

volcanic eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

and to thrive in the destroyed ecosystem on the most barren slopes of

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...

.Shackleford, R
Conservation Assessment for Small-flowered Woodrush (''Luzula parviflora'' (Ehrh.) Desv.)
USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region. July, 2003.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Luzula parviflora''''Luzula parviflora'' — U.C. Photo gallery
parviflora Flora of the Arctic Flora of Europe Flora of North America Flora of temperate Asia {{Poales-stub