Luzula comosa var. laxa

Hairy wood rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Hairy wood rush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range highlands, Sierra Nevada, and Great Basin in wet meadows, creekbanks, springs, and open woodland at elevations up to 3,150 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces small clustered brownish-green flowers in dense umbel-like spikes 6 to 28 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 13 to 35 centimeters tall, it has a distinctive bulb-like base and delicate grass-like appearance. Its leaves are narrow and soft, forming loose tufts with a characteristic hairy texture characteristic of wood rushes. The plant produces small clusters of flowers with perianth parts 2 to 3.5 millimeters long, creating delicate seed heads in damp mountain habitats.

Habitat: Wet to seasonally moist meadows, creekbanks, springs, damp thickets, trails, rocky slopes, open woodland, conifer forest, serpentine tolerant

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: < 3150 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH, GB

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.