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Questions and Answers: 2016

Question: Luzula on Martha's Vineyard: I want to call it L. bulbosa. The leaf bases are barely swollen, but there are …

  • Question

    Luzula on Martha's Vineyard: I want to call it L. bulbosa. The leaf bases are barely swollen, but there are bulblets next to the plant bases, each shaped like a Hershey's Kiss with a rounded rather than flat bottom. My problem is that that the leaves are pointed, and don't have a "blunt, callous tip". They are slightly involute where the edges come together at the tip. What else could it be but L. bulbosa? Thank you.

    Answer

    Dear Gregory, your plant is Luzula bulbosa. I can see the callous tip on the leaf blade itself from your images. You need to think more microscopically for this one (the blunt tip is from a much closer look). If you had Luzula echinata in hand to compare, you would see the difference. The bulblets that you note are actually swollen leaf bases (that is what they are derived from). Best wishes.