Sierra Woodrush

The culms of Luzula orestera are reddish brown and stiffly erect; basal leaves are reddish, firm, and glabrous with an overlapping arrangement.

Culms densely cespitose, stiffly erect, reddish brown, 3--26 cm. Leaves: basal leaves reddish, 2.5--7 cm x 2--5 mm, firm, apex callous, glabrous. Inflorescences pyramidal, 5--10 mm wide; glomerules 1--5, sessile, sometimes with 1--2 smaller glomerules on short peduncles; proximal inflorescence bract conspicuous, reddish, usually exceeding inflorescence, generally stiff; bracteoles clear. Flowers: tepals very dark with clear margins, 2--3 mm; outer whorl slightly exceeding inner whorl; anthers ± equaling filaments. Capsules dark brown to black in distal portion, much shorter than tepals; (beak 0.3 mm). Seeds dark brown, oval, 0.8 mm; caruncle about 0.2 mm. 2n = 20, 22.

Calif.

Flowering and fruiting summer.

Alpine and subalpine meadows, fell-fields; 2700--3600m.

Luzula campestris var. congesta Smiley, not Meyer; L. campestris (Linnaeus) de Candolle var. sudetica Linnaeus, not Celakovsky

Luzula orestera, with the common name Sierra woodrush, is a species of flowering plant in the rush family. It is endemic to the High Sierra Nevada of California, where it grows in fellfields, talus, and other habitat in regions of subalpine and alpine climates.