''Luzula nivalis'', commonly known as arctic wood-rush
or less commonly as snowy wood-rush
(both names are used with or without hyphenation), is a species of
perennial rush
Rush(es) may refer to:
Places
United States
* Rush, Colorado
* Rush, Kentucky
* Rush, New York
* Rush City, Minnesota
* Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois
* Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream
* Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...
native to the
North American Arctic
The North American Arctic is composed of the northern polar regions of Alaska (USA), Northern Canada and Greenland. Major bodies of water include the Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay, the Gulf of Alaska and North Atlantic Ocean. The North American Ar ...
and
Northern Europe
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...
.
It was described by Polunin (1940) as one of the most abundant, ubiquitous, and
ecologically important of all arctic plants.
Taxonomy and naming
''Luzula nivalis'' is classified under the
section ''
Thyrsanochlamydeae'' of the
subgenus
In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
''Luzula''.
It belongs to the
genus ''
Luzula'' of the rush
family Juncaceae.
With regards to the etymology of the binomial: the
generic name ''Luzula'' could come from the
Italian ''
lucciola'' ("to shine, sparkle") or the
Latin ''
luzulae'' or ''
luxulae'', from ''
lux
The lux (symbol: lx) is the unit of illuminance, or luminous flux per unit area, in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to one lumen per square metre. In photometry, this is used as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the ...
'' ("light"), inspired by the way the plant's hairs sparkle when wet with
dew.
''
Nivalis'' is Latin for snowy, snow-covered or snow-like.
The exact taxonomy of ''Luzula nivalis'' is a little confusing due to confusions over the naming of the taxon; the name ''L. arctica'' has frequently
(though less occasionally in recent years) been applied this taxon, or it has been regarded as a separate species altogether.
Elven et al. (2003) stated that "a number of authors (Hultén 1968, Böcher et al. 1968, Porsild and Cody 1980, Novikov 1990) have considered L. nivalis to be
conspecific with L. arctica, but some of them (Hultén 1968, Böcher et al. 1968) have used the name L. arctica, while the others (Porsild and Cody 1980...)
ave usedthe correct name L. nivalis.".
Elven et al. (2003) also noted that ''
L. campestris'' var. ''nivalis'' was widely considered to be conspecific with ''L. arctica.''
The current botanical consensus seems to be that
lectotypification
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...
solves the issue and that ''L. arctica'' and ''L. nivalis'' should be regarded as the same species, with the name ''L. nivalis'' being chosen as this (derived from ''L. campestris'' var. ''nivalis'') is the species's
basionym
In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...
and was used before ''L. arctica''.
Description
''Luzula nivalis'' is a relatively small perennial
herbaceous plant (or "herb") which grows to heights of between in a
caespitose fashion.
''L. nivalis ''has
fibrous roots and ascending
rhizomes
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
,
older plants have vertical
stems either at ground level or underground;
the plant base is straw-brown/pale
castaneous
Chestnut or castaneous is a colour, a medium reddish shade of brown (displayed right), and is named after the nut of the chestnut tree. An alternate name for the colour is badious.
Indian red is a similar but separate and distinct colour fro ...
brown in colour.
The plant is
subglabrous with erect, aerial stems and numerous alternate
basal
Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''.
Science
* Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure
* Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...
leaves.
These crowded leaves are
marcescent
Marcescence is the withering and persistence of plant organs that normally are shed, and is a term most commonly applied to plant leaves. The underlying physiological mechanism is that trees transfer water and sap from the roots to the leaves t ...
,
flat, remain for many years, usually up to long and wide.
'' L. nivalis'' also has 1–2
cauline leaves which are long;
both leaf types are grass-like, flat, linear, straight and possess parallel
veins.
The leaf tips are obtuse,
acuminate,
involute,
caducous and slightly swollen.
Both the blade
adaxial and