Notes on Luzula cf. divulgata

On July 4, 1990 I found some deviating plants of Luzula multiflora (Ehrh.) Lej. (Luzulaceae) in Lohja, South Finland. Later more localities in the Lohja region were detected, and it turned out that the plants are probably distinct from L. multiflora at the specific level. At first I supposed that I had found L. divulgata Kirschner described in 1979 (Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 14: 431). In 1991, through the kind assistance of Dr. Jan Kirschner,  I borrowed the type of L. divulgata and some other representative specimens for comparison. My plants resembled much L. divulgata but some differences appeared to exist: the Finnish plants were perhaps slightly taller, the stem base usually reddish, the perianth paler brown, the anthers apparently shorter, and the capsule different; maybe also the style and the seeds were a bit different. The length of the leaf stomata is 47-62 µm in the Finnish plants, i. e. roughly the same as in L. multiflora (mostly hexaploid) but greater than in L. divulgata (tetraploid). The chromosome number still remains to be examined for the Finnish plants but the length of the stomata may indicate that the ploidy level is higher than the tetraploid one.
    These Finnish plants may represent an undescribed taxon closely related to L. divulgata or merely a hexaploid race of the latter. Later I detected in my herbarium two early  specimens of the present Luzula that I already initially had noticed and collected as problematic: one from Lohja in 1970 and the other from Kisko in 1972, i.e. well prior to the description of L. divulgata!
    The table below displays the differences between the South Finnish L. multiflora ssp. multiflora (which anyway is a variable taxon) and the unidentified Luzula.

    There may be a few additional differences: Luzula sp. has somewhat taller stems, the leaf margin has generally smaller papillae/spines, the clusters of the inflorescence are generally fewer and slightly larger, one cluster has sometimes clearly longer peduncle than the others, the anthers are longer and thicker (they may sometimes be aborted in both taxa which confuses their examination), the anthers are also generally yellowish (vs. usually whitish), the capsule is slightly paler, and the plants may possess an earlier flowering time.
    This Luzula sp. from Lohja may be indigenous in the area. It dwells habitats which, on the average, are slightly different from those of L. multiflora, occurring on sparsely forested rock outcrops and in half-open meadow-like habitats (also human-influenced) in the connection of rocks. It has been found in areas with basic or calcareous bedrock, once on granite but polluted with calcium dust from lime factory.
    I have detected a few specimens belonging to this taxon from southern Finland and one from eastern Sweden (Uppland) in our herbarium (H): misidentified specimens can be found deposited under L. multiflora ssp. multiflora and L. campestris (L.) DC. In 1993, Dr. Kirschner published (Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 28: 141-182) a specimen of "L. divulgata" from Uppland. Recently, the supposed L. divulgata has also been reported from NW Russia, near the Finnish border (Tzvelev 2000).

Luzula cf. divulgata Kirschner (Finland, Lohja, Hermala, 2001). – Photo: Harri Harmaja. – Here the species grows directly on limestone with e.g. Alchemilla glaucescens, Allium schoenoprasum and Anthoxanthum odoratum which can be seen in the picture. Exceptionally many calcicolous and calciphilous species grow in this rocky area, often in the immediate company of the Luzula, such as Agrimonia eupatoria, Arabis hirsuta, Asplenium ruta-muraria, Briza media, Cephalanthera rubra (in woods near-by), Epipactis helleborine, Linum catharticum, Ophioglossum vulgatum, Potentilla crantzii, Sagina nodosa, Saxifraga adscendens, and Woodsia alpina (in a near-by outcrop).

Literature: Harmaja, H. 2003: A note on Luzula cf. divulgata and Viola ×pseudomirabilis in Finland. – Memoranda Soc. Fauna Flora Fennica 79: 69-72.

Created June 19, 2001. Latest revision January 9, 2012.