Northern wood rush

Rhizomes 0.5--1 cm. Culms cespitose, stiffly erect, 3--28 cm. Leaves: sheaths reddish; basal leaves (persisting for several seasons,) reddish, exceeding inflorescence to as short as cauline leaves, glabrous; cauline leaves 2--3, reddish, rarely to 6 cm, often reaching or exceeding inflorescence, glabrous. Inflorescences: glomerules 1--4, pedunculate; main branches 1--3(--4), arching in 1 direction, 1--4 cm, terminated by 2--several peduncles each bearing 1--5 flowers; peduncles 2 mm; ; proximal inflorescence bract usually inconspicuous, though variable in size and shape; bracts and bracteoles conspicuous, clear to deep brown, margins lacerate to fimbriate to abundantly ciliate. Flowers: tepals dark brown with clear apex, 1.6--2.6 mm; outer whorl longer than inner whorl; anthers ca. 2 times filament length; stigmas much exceeding styles. Capsules dark brown, ovoid, ± equaling to shorter than tepals. Seeds dark brown, (with tuft of fine tangled hairs), ellipsoid, 0.8--1.2 mm. 2n = 36.

Flowering and fruiting late summer. Wet, exposed rocky and sandy hillsides, lichen tundra, and mountain summits; growing where it may be practically only vascular plant; circumpolar; 500--1300 m; Greenland; B.C., Man., Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.), N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Maine, N.H., Vt.; Eurasia.

Basal leaves and cauline leaves (numbering 2 or 3) are reddish and glabrous in Luzula confusa. Inflorescences have 1--3(--4) main branches terminated by 2--several peduncles, each bearing 1--5 flowers. The flowers are characterized by stigmas that much exceed the styles in length.