Luzula is a genus of flowering plants in the rush family Juncaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring throughout the world, especially in temperate regions, the Arctic, and higher elevation areas in the tropics.[2] Plants of the genus are known commonly as wood-rush,[3]wood rush, or woodrush.[4] Possible origins of the genus name include the Italianlucciola ("to shine, sparkle") or the Latinluzulae or luxulae, from lux ("light"), inspired by the way the plants sparkle when wet with dew.[2] Another etymology sometimes given is that it does derive from lucciola but that this meant a mid-summer field, or from the Latinluculus, meaning a small place; the same source also states that this name was applied by Luigi Anguillara (an Italian botanist) in 1561.[5]
These rushes are usually perennial plants with rhizomes and sometimes stolons. They generally form clumps of cylindrical stems and narrow leaves with hair-lined edges. The inflorescence is often a dense cluster of flowers with two leaf-like bracts at the base, or sometimes a solitary flower or a few flowers borne together. They have six brownish tepals.[2][6]
