Plants of
South Australia
Luzula flaccida
Juncaceae
Pale Wood-rush
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Near threatened
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Vulnerable
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 5

Prior names

Luzula campestris, partly

Luzula meridionalis var. flaccida

Luzula campestris var. flaccida

Etymology

Luzula, possibly from the Italian 'luzziola', meaning sparkle, or a fire-fly, or from the Latin 'luxulae ,'meaning light, probably alluding to the sparkling and quivering character of the heads when wet with dew. flaccida from the Latin 'flaccidus', meaning slack or flaccid, referring to its drooping leaf-blades.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges and the lower South-east in South Australia, growing in moist rather shady sites in grassy woodland or open grassland. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Uncommon in Queensland. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Loosely tufted perennial sedge with flowering stems 25 cm high; rarely bulbous at base. Leaves flat, to 6 mm wide with sparsely hairy margins and thick callous obtuse tips. Inflorescence 1-6 clusters with many yellowish to light brown flowers at the end of a long stalk. Flowering between August and November. Fruits are dense clusters of pale golden-brown capsules. Seeds are dark brown to black ellipsoid seed to 0.9 mm long and 0.8 mm wide, with a large white fleshy appendage at one end. Seed embryo type is broad.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and January. Collect fruits either by picking off the mature heads, those turning brown and come-off easily, or break-off the whole spikes. Place the heads in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the heads with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any unwanted material. Be careful, as the seeds are very small. Seeds are brown and hard. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA17,900 (6.81 g)50+14-Nov-2007DJD951
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-2008100%+5°C, -18°C
BGA4,600 (1.3 g)60+15-Nov-2017JRG622
South Eastern
30-Jun-2018100%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.