Easily mistaken for : Southern Wood-rush (Luzula forsteri) unless you are north of Birmingham or in Ireland where that is extremely seldom found, or not at all. But the appendix on the seeds of Southern Wood-rush are often curved or hooked (whereas they are not in Hairy Wood-rush), and the appendix is often longer than half the length of the seed [and often longer than the seed too] (whereas in Hairy Wood-rush they are usually shorter than half the length of the seed). There are other subtle differences too, many only apparent after the averaging of a few specimens! There seems to be very few places where Southern Wood-rush grows but Hairy Wood-rush definitely doesn't, so identifying Southern Wood-rush where that grows will need careful examination rather than a glance at your location on the map.
Many species of Wood-rush are distinguished mainly by the shape and size and details of their fruits. They are in the same Juncaceae family as the Rushes (Juncus)
Hairy Wood-rush grows mainly in woods and other shaded places, and is almost ubiquitous throughout the UK but tending to avoid Lincolnshire parts of Norfolk and the east of England around The Wash and The Tyne, and much of central Eire, but is greatly decreasing in extent decade by decade.
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