The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

I am fairly sure it is this species as it consistent with the description in VoI II of the Flora. However the leaf dimensions (0.4 -0.7 mm wide) given in the both the key and description appear to be wrong. In Vol III of the Flora no leaf dimensions are given in the key. The description in &quot;Above the Treeline &quot;states &quot;Forms cushions similar to those of Luzula pumila but their leaves are narrower and quotes the same dimensions (<0.7 vs >0.7 mm wide) as those given in Vol II of the Flora. Image 3 p318 in &quot;Above the Treeline&quot; is captioned L. pumila, Old Man Ra, 1600 m appears to be of this plant rather than L. pumila. In my experience this species appears to be found predominantly in bogs rather than in the cushionfield as stated in &quot;Above the Treeline&quot;. I am inclined to think the plant illustrated as L. crenulata on the NZPCN website is not this but something else, possibly, L. colensoi but given the difficulty of identifying these dwarfed, high alti

Try Aaron Wilton - wiltona@landcareresearch.co.nz. he was revising Luzula many years ago and even though that revision was never published he still knows them very well.

Thanks, Peter. Have done what you have suggested; it appears these small alpine Luzula species are not particularly well known.

Hi David, it looks like L. crenulata to me. Indigenous Luzula are quite tricky to identify apart from a few well marked species such as L. ulophylla. In L. crenulata the elaves are more spaced and occupy up to about half the flower stem. Yes, the plant in above the tree line captoned as L. pumila could be L. crenulata, but it is way out of L. crenulata's known range, though this range is very poorly known. The L. crenulata on NZPCN I now think is a dwarfed form of L. leptophylla which may be distinct to the Old Man area. I have it in cultivation and the flowering stem elongates much more than in the photo.