Luzula parviflora

Small flowered wood rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Small flowered wood rush is a California native perennial found in mesic to moist conifer woodlands, forest edges, and streambanks at elevations below 3,400 meters. Flowering from late spring to early summer, this plant produces small, pale to brown flowers in loose clusters with delicate, somewhat arching branches. Growing 30 to 108 centimeters tall with a loosely tufted habit, it has bright green to mid-green leaves that turn red-brown to orange in autumn. Its basal leaves are 4 to 8 millimeters wide, with cauline leaves 7 to 11.5 centimeters long, lanceolate and acuminate, often with hairy leaf sheaths. The plant produces small oblong-elliptic fruits slightly longer than its perianth, with pale to brown valves.

Habitat: Mesic to moist places in conifer woodland, forest edges, streambanks, trailsides, often shaded

Elevation: < 3400 m

California counties: Tulare, Tuolumne, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, Fresno, Humboldt, Mariposa, Mendocino, Mono, Siskiyou, Inyo, Madera, El Dorado, Plumas, Tehama, Modoc, Yuba, Sonoma, Trinity, Alpine

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