LUZULA ARCUATA. CURVE-STALKED HAIRY-
RUSH.
LUZULA arcuata ; foliis canaliculatis, spicis umbellatis pedunculatis recurvis globdsis paucifloris,
bractea squamacea fimbriata. Wahl. '
JUNCUS avcuatus. Wahl. FI. Lapp.p. 88. t. 4.
JUNCUS campestris, yar. spicis globosis densis, foliis nudis :—an sp. distincta? FI. Dan. t. 1886.
Class a n d Or d e r . HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[N a t u r a l O r d e r . JU N C E iE , Decand., Brown. JU N C I , Joss.]
G e n . C h a r . Perigonium sex-partitum, glumaceum. Stamina sex. Capsula unilocularis, trivalvis, trisperma,
valvulis septo destitutis. Folia plana, hinc inde pilosa.
G e n . C h a r . Perianth six-partite, glumaceous. Stamens six. Capsule one-celled, three-valved, three-seeded;
valves without dissepiments. Leaves plane, generally hairy.
Ra d ix perennis, repens, stolonifera, fibrosa.
Cülmus solitarius, erectus, teres, glaber, foliosus, spitha-
mseus.
Folia præcipue radicalia, numerosa, lineari-subulata,
varie curvata, rigida, canaliculata, basi sub-vagi-
nata, nitida, margine parce pilosa, viridia. Cau-
lina duo ad tria, sensim minora, magis vàginantia.
Flores in capitulis tri- ad quinquefloris, subumbellatis
dispositi. Umbellalaxa, composita, pedunculata.
P e d u n c u l i valdç intequales, rarius breves, erectiusculi,
plerumque unciam longi, insigniter recurvati,
omnes ad basin bracteati; bracteis ovatisvel ovato-
lanceolatis, versus apicem piloso-fimbriatis, fus-
co-purpureis, inferioribus majoribus, vaginanti-
bus.
P e r ia n t i i i i Foliola ovato-lanceolata, fusco-castanea,
dein versus apicem diaphana, tria interiora pal-
lidiora, basi bracteis tribus vel quatuor, fimbria-
tis, munita.
St am in a : Filamenta sex : Antheræ oblongoe, flavæ.
P istil lum : Germen subrotundum. Stylus longius-
culus. Stigmata tria, pubescentia, viridia.
Ca p su la sùbglobosa, mucrone brevi terminata, foliolis
perianthii brevior, unilocularis, trivalvis, trisperma.
Sem in a obovata, glabra, fusca.
Root perennial, creeping, stoloniferous, fibrous.
Culm solitary, erect, rounded, glabrous, leafy, about a
span high.
Leaves chiefly radical, numerous, linear-subulate, bent in
different directions, rigid, channelled, somewhat
sheathing at their bases, shining, a little hairy at
their margins, green. Those of the stem two to
three in number gradually smaller, more sheathing.
F lowers disposed in three to five-flowered slightly um-
bellated heads. Umbel lax, compound, pedunculated.
P e d u n c le s very unequal, rarely short, rather erect, generally
an inch in length, remarkably recurved,
all having bracteas at their base; the bracteas
ovate or ovato-lanceolate, fimbriated with hairs
at the points, reddish brown, the lowermost the
largest, sheathing.
L eaflets of t h e P e r ia n t h ovato-lanceolate, of a
chesnut-brown colour, afterwards diaphanous at
the points, the three inner ones paler, furnished
at the base with three or. four fimbriated bracteas.
St am e n s : Filaments six; Anthers oblong, yellow.
Pis t il : Germen roundish. . Style rather long. Stigmas
three, downy, green.
Cap sul e subglobose, terminated by a short mucro,
shorter than the leaflets o f the perianth, one-
celled, three-valved, three-seeded.
Se ed s obovate, smooth, brown.
Fig. 1. Siqgle flower with its bracteas. Fig. 2. Pistil and stamens. Fig. 3. Ripe capsule, surrounded with its
. perianth and bracteas.^ Fig. 4. Capsule with the valves expanded, and exhibiting the seeds. Fig. 5. Single
seed. Fig. 6. Capsule beginning to open. Fig. 7. Bractea of a peduncle. Fig. 8. Bractea of a pedicel:— all
more or less magnified.
I t is some encouragement to the lover of British botany to know, that notwithstanding the diligence o f former
naturalists, there still exists a chance of their labours in exploring the mountains being repaid, by the discovery of
some novelty, even among the phcenogamous plants of this island. In a late excursion which I made into the
Grampian Hills, in company with my friends Messrs. Greville and Arnott, we had the good fortune to meet
with this interesting species of Luzula, which had never found a place in any British botanical publication, growing
in considerable abundance on Caim-gorum, Ben-y-Macduich, Brae-reach, Ben-y-Bord, and several other mountains
of the same range; so that it is, in all probability, likely to be detected upon all the extensive chain of granite
alps in that vicinity.
I t affects the highest summits, among the comminuted rock, frequently in the neighbourhood of those masses
of snow which are found, even in the midst of summer, at those great elevations; descending from 4000 or more
feet, to a station on the hills probably not exceeding 3000 feet. The plant was recognized by us a t once, although
we had never gathered it before, as the Juncus arcuatus of Wahlenberg, of which that author has given an excellent
figure in his Flora Lapponica, and of which we had ourselves received specimens from the late Professor
Schmidt of Norway. Before the return from our expedition, we had the satisfaction of comparing our plants with
authentic individuals, a t the house of our venerable friend Mr. Brodie, of Brodie, and thus convincing ourselves
of their identity. In the herbarium of the same gentleman, we found likewise that we had been anticipated in our
discovery by the late Mr. Don, for there was preserved a specimen under the name of Juncus nivalis of Don, gathered
by that indefatigable naturalist; but never, that I can ascertain, noticed in any of his publications. The habitat
given for it by Mr. Don, in his MSS. was the same as one of ours, namely Ben-y-Macduich.
I do not know any British species of Luzula or Juncus with which the present one can be confounded. In its
long, cymose or umbellated panicle, which has several flowers in little spikes or heads, it bears some affinity to
dwarf specimens of Luzula campestris, but its leaves are very different; the heads are all pedunculated, the
bracteas beautifully fimbriated, the leaflets of the perianth are less acuminate, and the whole plant is very much
smaller, never exceeding in the many individuals that we gathered, the dimensions of those figured in- the accompanying
plate. In size and foliage it approaches Luzula spicata, but is totally distinct in the characters of its inflorescence.
Wahlenberg found tins plant abundantly throughout all the alps of Lapland in wet .and sterile spots, there
ascending to a higher elevation, and bearing a greater degree of cold, upon places rendered barren by almost constant
frost and snow, than any other vegetable. In Norway, Hornemann found it upon turfy mountains near
■Tronfieldat, and Dr. Schmidt has given me, as its station in the same country, “ upon the highest alps, on the:
verge of perpetual snow.” The Luzula arcuata may thus, perhaps, be reckoned among the most truly alpine of
all our British phaenogamous plants.
Its flowering season is probably the month of June, as we found ripe seed-vessels, and these only, upon it, in
the latter end of July.
The flowers here figured are from Norwegian specimen^.