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alkali muhly, or alkali muhly, scratch grass

sand muhly

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous, not cespitose, occasionally: stoloniferous. Plants perennial; cespitose, not rhizomatous.
Culms

10-60(100) cm, decumbent-ascending, bases somewhat compressed-keeled;

internodes glabrous, shiny below the nodes.

(15)20-60 (70) cm, somewhat decumbent, 1 or more nodes exposed;

internodes hispidulous below the nodes.

Sheaths

glabrous, margins hyaline;

ligules 0.2-1 mm, firm, truncate, ciliate, without lateral lobes;

blades 2-7(11) cm long, 1-2.8(4) mm wide, flat, occasionally conduplicate, smooth or scabridulous abaxially, scabridulous adaxially, margins and midveins not conspicuously thickened, greenish, apices acute, not sharp.

Leaves

somewhat basally concentrated, most blades not reaching more than (1/4)1/2 of the plant height;

sheaths usually a little shorter than the internodes, not keeled, scabridulous, margins hyaline, basal sheaths rounded, not becoming spirally coiled when old;

ligules 2-9 mm, hyaline, acute, lacerate, often with lateral lobes;

blades 4-10(16) cm long, 1-2.2 mm wide, not arcuate, flat, folded, or involute, scabrous, often glaucous, midveins and margins not thickened, green.

Panicles

6-21 cm long, 4-16 cm wide, broadly ovoid, open;

primary branches 3-12 cm, capillary, lower branches spreading 30-90° from the rachises, never appearing fascicled;

pedicels 3-14 mm, longer than the spikelets.

12-30 cm long, 5-20 cm wide, diffuse;

primary branches 1-10 cm, diverging 30-80° from the rachises, naked basally;

pedicels 1-4(6) mm.

Spikelets

1.2-2.1 mm, occasionally with 2 or 3 florets.

2.5-4.2 mm.

Glumes

equal, 0.6-1.7 mm, purplish, scabridulous, particularly on the veins, 1-veined, apices acute;

lemmas 1.2-2.1 mm, lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, somewhat plumbeous, glabrous, usually smooth, occasionally scabridulous near the apices, apices acute, unawned or mucronate, mucros to 0.3 mm;

paleas 1.2-2.1 mm, lanceolate, glabrous, acute;

anthers 1-1.3 mm, greenish-yellow to purplish at maturity.

equal, 1.4-2.5 mm, 1-veined, apices scabridulous, acute to acuminate, minutely erose, unawned or awned, awns to 1 mm;

lemmas 2.5-4.2 mm, narrowly elliptic, usually purplish, scabrous distally, appressed-pubescent on the lower 1/2 - 3/4 of the margins and midveins, apices acuminate, awned, awns 0.5-4.2 mm;

paleas 2.5-3.5 mm, narrowly elliptic, intercostal region sparsely pubescent, apices acuminate, with 2 short (0.1-0.2 mm) awns;

anthers 1.5-2.1 mm, greenish.

Caryopses

0.8-1 mm, fusiform, brownish.

1.9-2.3 mm, fusiform, brownish.

2n

= 20, 22, 28.

= 80, 82.

Muhlenbergia asperifolia

Muhlenbergia arenicola

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MD; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; SD; TX; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; ON; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; NM; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Muhlenbergia asperifolia grows in moist, often alkaline meadows, playa margins, and sandy washes, on grassy slopes, and around seeps and hot springs, at elevations of 55-3000 m. Its geographic range includes northern Mexico. Muhlenbergia asperifolia is morphologically similar to the southeastern M. torreyana, but differs in having glabrous, weakly compressed culms and more widely divergent panicle branches.

The caryopses of Muhlenbergia asperifolia are frequently infected by a smut, Tilletia asperifolia Ellis & Everhart, which produces a globose body filled with blackish-brown spores.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Muhlenbergia arenicola grows on sandy mesas, limestone benches, and in valleys and open desert grasslands, at elevations of 600-2135 m. Its range extends from the southwestern United States to central Mexico. It also grows, as a disjunct, in northwestern Argentina.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 179. FNA vol. 25, p. 173.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Muhlenbergia Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Muhlenbergia
Sibling taxa
M. andina, M. appressa, M. arenacea, M. arenicola, M. arizonica, M. arsenei, M. brevis, M. bushii, M. californica, M. capillaris, M. crispiseta, M. curtifolia, M. cuspidata, M. depauperata, M. diversiglumis, M. dubia, M. dumosa, M. elongata, M. eludens, M. emersleyi, M. expansa, M. filiculmis, M. filiformis, M. fragilis, M. frondosa, M. glabrifloris, M. glauca, M. glomerata, M. jonesii, M. lindheimeri, M. longiligula, M. mexicana, M. microsperma, M. minutissima, M. montana, M. palmeri, M. pauciflora, M. pectinata, M. peruviana, M. polycaulis, M. porteri, M. pungens, M. racemosa, M. ramulosa, M. repens, M. reverchonii, M. richardsonis, M. rigens, M. rigida, M. schreberi, M. sericea, M. setifolia, M. sinuosa, M. sobolifera, M. spiciformis, M. straminea, M. sylvatica, M. tenuiflora, M. tenuifolia, M. texana, M. thurberi, M. torreyana, M. torreyi, M. uniflora, M. utilis, M. villiflora, M. wrightii, M. ×curtisetosa, M. ×involuta
M. andina, M. appressa, M. arenacea, M. arizonica, M. arsenei, M. asperifolia, M. brevis, M. bushii, M. californica, M. capillaris, M. crispiseta, M. curtifolia, M. cuspidata, M. depauperata, M. diversiglumis, M. dubia, M. dumosa, M. elongata, M. eludens, M. emersleyi, M. expansa, M. filiculmis, M. filiformis, M. fragilis, M. frondosa, M. glabrifloris, M. glauca, M. glomerata, M. jonesii, M. lindheimeri, M. longiligula, M. mexicana, M. microsperma, M. minutissima, M. montana, M. palmeri, M. pauciflora, M. pectinata, M. peruviana, M. polycaulis, M. porteri, M. pungens, M. racemosa, M. ramulosa, M. repens, M. reverchonii, M. richardsonis, M. rigens, M. rigida, M. schreberi, M. sericea, M. setifolia, M. sinuosa, M. sobolifera, M. spiciformis, M. straminea, M. sylvatica, M. tenuiflora, M. tenuifolia, M. texana, M. thurberi, M. torreyana, M. torreyi, M. uniflora, M. utilis, M. villiflora, M. wrightii, M. ×curtisetosa, M. ×involuta
Name authority (Nees & Meyen ex Trin.) Parodi Buckley
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