''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass,
is a species of
grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
that is
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entert ...
to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in
acid soil
Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. pH is defined as the neg ...
s, ideally
pH values of between 3.5 and 5, however, it can continue to live under more extreme conditions, sometimes to as low as 2. It is common on moist
heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
,
bogs and
moorland throughout Britain and Ireland. Introduced populations exist in northeastern and northwestern North America.
The
specific epithet ''caerulea'' means "deep blue"
and refers to the purple spikelets.
Description
''Molinia caerulea'' is a
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
bunchgrass
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...
(tussock-forming), growing up to tall (taller when sheltered by
gorse
''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are n ...
and
heather), with many closely packed stems. The leaves are coarse, green, taper to a point, long, flat and sometimes slightly hairy on top. Due to the dense
tussock it is very resistant to
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...
fires. Its
ligule is a ring of hairs, as in heath grass (''
Danthonia decumbens
''Danthonia decumbens'' (formerly ''Sieglingia decumbens'') is a species of grass commonly known as the heath grass, heath-grass, or staggers grass It is a tussock grass native to Europe and adjacent parts of Asia and North Africa. It may also be ...
''). The long narrow purple spikelets are a major identification feature – the
panicle is long.
It flowers between July and September, later than any other species.
Ecology
The
caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
s of some
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
use it as a foodplant, e.g., the
chequered skipper (''Carterocephalus palaemon'').
''
Claviceps purpurea
''Claviceps purpurea'' is an ergot fungus that grows on the ears of rye and related cereal and forage plants. Consumption of grains or seeds contaminated with the survival structure of this fungus, the ergot sclerotium, can cause ergotism in h ...
'' is an
ascomycetous
Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The de ...
fungus which grows on the seeds of purple moor grass.
''
Purple moor grass and rush pastures
Purple moor grass and rush pastures is a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the South West of England, especially in Devon ...
'' is a United Kingdom
Biodiversity Action Plan habitat, on account of its rarity.
Cultivation
''Molinia caerulea'' is cultivated for its
panicles
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are o ...
of purple spikelets on yellow stems. In cultivation it grows to tall by broad.
Numerous
cultivars have been selected, of which the following have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
's
Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
History
The Award of Garden Merit ...
:
*''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''arundinacea'' 'Windspiel'
*''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Edith Dudszus'
*''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Moorhexe'
*''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Poul Petersen'
*''M. caerulea'' subsp. ''caerulea'' 'Variegata'
Gallery
Image:Illustration_Molinia_caerulea0.jpg
Image:Molinia-caerulea.jpg
Image:Molinia.jpg
Image:Molinia.caerulea.jpg
Image:Molinia.caerulea.2.jpg
Image:Molinia.caerulea.3.jpg
Image:molinia_caerulea.jpeg, 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 ...
Image:molinia_caerulea_habitus.jpeg, Habitus (German Horst)
Image:molinia_caerulea_blatt.jpeg, Leaf and vegetative parts
Image:Molinia-caerulea-habitat.JPG, ''Molinia caerulea'' at natural habitat near Silkeborg, Denmark.
File:Claviceps microcephala.jpg, Sclerotium
A sclerotium (; (), is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant until favor ...
of ''Claviceps purpurea'' which grows on the seeds of purple moor grass.
References
*
*
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q157772
Molinieae
Bunchgrasses of Europe
Bunchgrasses of Africa
Bunchgrasses of Asia
Flora of North Africa
Flora of Western Asia
Garden plants of Europe
Garden plants of Asia
Garden plants of Africa
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus