Plants of
South Australia
Luzula densiflora
Juncaceae
Dense Wood-rush
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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. densiflora

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. Densiflora, from Latin for densely flowered, referring to its clusters of dense inflorescence.

Distribution and status

Found on the southern Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, southern Mount Lofty Ranges and the South-east in South Australia, growing in moist rather shady sites, on clay, in eucalypt woodland or open grassland. Also found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, South Australian Arid Lands, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Loosely tufted perennial sedge with flowering stems 40 cm high, generally exceeding leaves and with a bulbous or swollen base. Leaves flat, to 3 mm wide with densely hairy margins and an obtuse and thickened apex. Inflorescence, dense clusters with many pale to reddish brown flowers at the end of a long stalk. Flowering between July and November. Fruits are dense clusters of reddish-brown fruiting spike. Seeds are brown 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 October 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 two collections, 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
BGA 
MSB
3,500 (1.09 g)
3,500 (1.09 g)
50+20-Oct-2006DJD610
Southern Lofty
1-Aug-2007100%-18°C
 
MSB

6,000 (2.86 g)
3019-Oct-2007RJB74940
Murray
100%
BGA4,800 (1.42 g)40+14-Nov-2007DJD941
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-2008100%+5°C, -18°C
BGA2,600 (0.905 g)4030-Nov-2021DJD4075
Kangaroo Island
7-Jul-2022100%-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.