Luzula

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  1a. Flowers occurring singly (rarely paired) at the tips of branches
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    L. acuminata

    2a. Inflorescence an umbel-like cyme, with simple or once-forked branches; seeds with a conspicuous caruncle; plants of low-elevation woodlands, edges, and forest openings, flowering in April through early June
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    L. parviflora

    2b. Inflorescence a branched dichasial cyme, with several-forked branches; seeds with 
a tuft of hairs; plants primarily of boreal and subalpine habitats, flowering from mid-June through July
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  1b. Flowers clustered in glomerules of 3–12 (–20), the glomerules all at the tips of branches 
or 1 or 2 of the central ones sessile (rarely all congested) [Figs. 153,154,155]
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    L. luzuloides

    3a. Flowers in 3- to 6-flowered glomerules, these arranged in an open-branched, 
dichasial cyme; tepals white (rarely pink)
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    3b. Flowers mostly in 5- to 12-flowered glomerules, these arranged in an umbel-like 
or spike-like cyme; tepals light brown to dark brown (rarely nearly white)
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      4a. Leaves involute, pointed at the tip; bracts subtending individual glomerules 
of flowers with conspicuously long-ciliate margins; caruncles of seeds inconspicuous, 
up to 0.2 mm long; branches of inflorescence, when present, arching or drooping; 
plants of alpine and subalpine habitats
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        L. spicata

        5a. Well-developed inflorescences nodding [Fig. 155]; bracts subtending glomerules of flowers with long, slender tips, often projecting beyond the glomerules
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        L. confusa

        5b. Inflorescences congested or with arching branches, not nodding; bracts subtending glomerules of flowers obtuse to acuminate at apex, not projecting beyond the glomerules
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      4b. Leaves ± flat, usually with a blunt, callous tip (the callous tip obscure in L. echinata); bracts subtending individual glomerules entire or sparingly lacerate-margined; caruncles of seeds mostly conspicuous, 0.2–0.7 mm long; branches of inflorescence ± straight [Figs. 153,154]; plants of low-elevation habitats
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        L. echinata

        6a. Leaves with a minute point at the tip, the calloused apex narrow and obscure; anther 2–4 times as long as the filament
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        6b. Leaves with a blunt, rounded tip, the calloused apex evident; anther not more than 2 times as long as filament (except in L. campestris, a rare introduction)
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          L. bulbosa

          7a. Plants bearing pale, swollen leaf bases that appear as bublets [Fig. 152]
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          7b. Plants without pale, swollen leaf bases
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            L. campestris

            8a. Stems solitary or a few together; plants with short but evident rhizomes; anther 2–6 times as long as the filament
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            8b. Stems loosely to densely cepsitose; plants without evident rhizomes; 
anther 1–2 times as long as the filament or shorter
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              L. pallidula

              9a. Seeds 0.7–1 mm long, with a caruncle 0.2–0.3 mm long; tepals 
1.5–2.6 mm long, clear to pale brown; styles 0.2–0.3 mm long
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              L. multiflora

              9b. Seeds 1.1–1.7 mm long, with a caruncle 0.2–0.6 mm long; tepals 
(2–) 2.5–3.5 mm long, nearly white to dark brown; styles 0.4–0.7 mm long

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