Luzula subcongesta

Donner wood rush

Family: Juncaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Donner wood rush is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, and Sierra Nevada Mountains in alpine to subalpine moist places at elevations of 2,000 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces small dark brown flowers in dense, branched panicles 3.5 to 19 centimeters long. Growing as a tufted plant 18 to 45 centimeters tall with a blue-green appearance and often short horizontal rhizomes, it forms distinctive clumps in high-elevation landscapes. Its flat basal leaves can reach up to 15 centimeters long and 3 to 9 millimeters wide, with acute tips that give the plant a delicate, grass-like texture. The plant produces ovoid fruits slightly shorter than the dark brown perianth parts, with lustrous dark brown seed valves.

Habitat: Alpine to subalpine moist or wet places

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 2000-3500 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH.

California counties: Mono, Alpine, El Dorado, Fresno, Madera, Nevada, Siskiyou, Tulare, Tuolumne, Inyo, Modoc, Sierra, Shasta, Mariposa, Placer, Humboldt

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