Luzula parviflora(Ehrh.) Desv.

Small-Flower Wood-Rushmillet woodrushsmallflower woodrushsmallflowered woodrush

WFO wfo-0000778024 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Luzula parviflora, photographed by Jens-Christian Svenning
fig. a Jens-Christian Svenning, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-02 / obs. 202748457
Luzula parviflora, photographed by Caleb Catto
fig. b Caleb Catto, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 144102565
Luzula parviflora, photographed by Trevor Van Loon
fig. c Trevor Van Loon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 136433127
Luzula parviflora, photographed by Braden J. Judson
fig. d Braden J. Judson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 129888949
Luzula parviflora, photographed by John A Haskins
fig. e John A Haskins, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 128096316
Luzula parviflora, photographed by John A Haskins
fig. f John A Haskins, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 72962072
Luzula parviflora, photographed by John A Haskins
fig. g John A Haskins, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 68224284
Luzula parviflora, photographed by Harry Podschwit
fig. h Harry Podschwit, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 67091436

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 59 botanical countries

Regions where Luzula parviflora is native: Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, Chita, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Magadan, Mongolia, Primorye, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, East European Russia, Finland, North European Russia, Norway, Sweden, Alaska, Alberta, Aleutian Is., Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Greenland, Idaho, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Oregon, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon AltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChitaIrkutskKamchatkaKazakhstanKrasnoyarskMagadanMongoliaPrimoryeTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaEast European RussiaFinlandNorth European RussiaNorwaySwedenAlaskaAlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutGreenlandIdahoLabradorMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOntarioOregonPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanUtahVermontWashingtonWisconsinWyomingYukon Rhode I.
Native distribution of Luzula parviflora, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Aleutian Is. ALU
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Greenland GNL
Idaho IDA
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
Chita CTA
Irkutsk IRK
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Magadan MAG
Mongolia MON
Primorye PRM
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
East European Russia RUE EUROPE
Finland FIN
North European Russia RUN
Norway NOR
Sweden SWE

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Aleutian Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,081 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -23.0 °C -2.6 °C 4.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 14.9 °C 20.6 °C 25.7 °C
Annual rainfall 628 mm 1,623 mm 3,476 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 70 mm 168 mm 374 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,081 research-grade observations of Luzula parviflora that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 27 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Juncoides parviflora (Ehrh.) Coville
  • Juncoides parviflora subsp. melanocarpa (Michx.) Cockerell
  • Juncoides parviflora var. melanocarpa (Michx.) E.Sheld.
  • Juncoides spadicea var. parviflora (Ehrh.) Kuntze
  • Juncus melanocarpus Michx.
  • Juncus parviflorus Ehrh.
  • Luzula arida Steud.
  • Luzula fastigiata E.Mey.
  • Luzula glabrata var. parviflora (Ehrh.) Rchb.
  • Luzula labradorica Raf.
  • Luzula labradorica Steud.
  • Luzula melanocarpa var. fastigiata (E.Mey.) E.Mey.
  • Luzula neglecta Kunth
  • Luzula parviflora f. melanocarpa (Michx.) Neuman
  • Luzula parviflora subsp. melanocarpa (Michx.) Tolm.
  • Luzula parviflora var. densiflora Lange
  • Luzula parviflora var. fastigiata (E.Mey.) Buchenau
  • Luzula parviflora var. melanocarpa (Michx.) Buchenau
  • Luzula parviflora var. melanocarpa (Michx.) A.Gray
  • Luzula parviflora var. parviflora
  • Luzula parviflora var. sparsiflora Lange
  • Luzula spadicea f. melanocarpa (Michx.) I.Grint.
  • Luzula spadicea f. parviflora Grinţ.
  • Luzula spadicea f. parviflora (Ehrh.) I.Grint.

and 3 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.