''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 a ...

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

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 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 caterpillars of some Lepidoptera 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 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 (Nor ...

's 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 Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

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