Muhlenbergia fragilis
Muhlenbergia wrightii
annual muhly, delicate muhly
spike muhly
10-38 cm, erect or spreading;
internodes mostly glabrous, smooth or scabridulous, scabrous or strigulose below the nodes.
15-60 cm tall, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, compressed, erect, not rooting at the lower nodes;
internodes mostly hispidulous or glabrous, strigose to hispidulous below the nodes.
often longer than the internodes, scabridulous, margins hyaline;
ligules 1-3 mm, hyaline, obtuse, irregularly toothed to lacerate, with lateral lobes;
blades 1-10 cm long, 0.4-2 mm wide, flat, scabrous abaxially, strigulose adaxially, margins and midveins thickened basally, whitish.
usually shorter than the internodes, smooth or scabridulous, compressed-keeled, not becoming spirally coiled when old;
ligules 1-3(5) mm, membranous, truncate;
blades 1.4-12 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, flat to folded, smooth or scabridulous abaxially, strigose adaxially.
10-24 cm long, 3.5-11 cm wide, diffuse;
primary branches 2.2-6.2 cm long, about 0.1 mm thick, diverging 80-100° from the rachises, straight;
pedicels 6-10 mm long, about 0.02 mm thick, delicate;
disarticulation above the glumes.
5-16 cm long, 0.2-1.2 cm wide, spikelike, dense;
primary branches 0.3-2 cm, appressed;
pedicels 0.1-1.4 mm.
1-1.2 mm, appressed to slightly divergent.
2-3 mm, dark green or plumbeous.
equal to subequal, 0.5-1 mm, glabrous throughout or obscurely puberulent, hairs about 0.06 mm, 1-veined, obtuse or subacute;
lemmas 1-1.2 mm, oblong-elliptic, purplish to light brownish, not mottled, glabrous or densely appressed-puberulent on the margins and midveins, apices obtuse, unawned;
paleas 0.9-1.2 mm, oblong-elliptic;
anthers 0.3-0.5 mm, purplish.
equal, 0.5-1.6 mm, usually 1/2 - 3/4 as long as the lemmas, 1-veined, scabridulous on the veins, acute or obtuse, abruptly narrowed to a short (0.5-1 mm) awn;
lemmas 2-3 mm, lanceolate, appressed-pubescent on the basal 1/2 - 3/4 of the midveins and margins, hairs about 0.5 mm, apices scabridulous, acute to acuminate, mucronate, mucros 0.3-1 mm;
paleas 1.9-3 mm, lanceolate, intercostal region pubescent, apices acute to acuminate;
anthers 1.3-1.8 mm, greenish.
0.7-0.9 mm, elliptic, reddish-brown.
1.2-2 mm, fusiform, brownish.
= 20.
= unknown.
Muhlenbergia fragilis
Muhlenbergia wrightii
Muhlenbergia fragilis grows on rocky talus slopes, cliffs, canyon walls, road cuts, and sandy slopes, often over calcareous parent materials, at elevations of 480-2200 m. It is usually found in oak-gramma savannahs, thorn scrub forests, oak-yellow pine forests, and pinyon-juniper woodlands. Its range extends from the southwestern United States to southern Mexico.
Populations may have individual plants with completely glabrous lemmas or may consist entirely of such plants. This morphological variation is not correlated with any distributional or habitat characteristics.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Muhlenbergia wrightii grows in gravelly prairies, on rocky slopes, and in meadows on granitic, sandstone, or limestone-derived soils, at elevations of 1100-3000 m. Its range extends from the southwestern United States to northern Mexico.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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