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or alkali muhly, scratchgrass

Habit Strongly rhizomatous, yellowish-green perennial, the culms solid, glabrous, 1-3 dm. tall.
Leaves

Sheaths open;

ligules truncate, 0.5-1 mm. long;

blades flat, scabrous-margined, 1-2 mm. broad.

Flowers

Inflorescence a large, open panicle, often half as long as the total height of the plant;

spikelets usually 1-flowered, but occasionally 2-flowered;

glumes nearly equal, puberulent on the keel, the first 1-nerved, about 1 mm. long, the second slightly wider;

lemmas up to half again as long as the glumes, 3-nerved, minutely awn-tipped;

palea slightly longer than the lemma, 2-nerved.

Muhlenbergia asperifolia

Muhlenbergia sericea

Flowering time June-September
Habitat Dry to moist alkaline places.
Distribution
Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Great Plains.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native
Conservation status Not of concern
Sibling taxa
M. andina, M. filiformis, M. glomerata, M. mexicana, M. minutissima, M. richardsonis
M. andina, M. asperifolia, M. filiformis, M. glomerata, M. mexicana, M. minutissima, M. richardsonis
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