Muhlenbergia glomerata
Muhlenbergia frondosa
bristly muhly, marsh muhly, muhlenbergie agglomeree, spike muhly
common satin grass, leafy satin grass, muhlenbergie feuillée, wire-stem muhly
30-120 cm tall, 0.8-2.5 mm thick, erect, seldom branched above the base;
internodes dull, mostly puberulent (sometimes sparsely so), terete, rarely keeled, strigose immediately below the nodes.
50-110 cm tall, 0.7-1.8 mm thick, ascending, geniculate, or decumbent, bushy and much branched above;
internodes smooth and shiny for most of their length, glabrous throughout.
scabridulous, slightly keeled;
ligules 0.2-0.6 mm, membranous, truncate, lacerate-ciliolate;
blades 2-15 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, flat, usually scabrous or scabridulous, occasionally smooth.
glabrous, margins hyaline;
ligules 0.7-1.7 mm, membranous, truncate, lacerate-ciliolate;
blades 4-18 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, flat, glabrous, smooth or scabridulous, those of the lateral branches similar to those of the primary culms.
1.5-12 cm long, 0.3-1.8 cm wide, lobed, dense;
primary branches 0.2-2.5 cm, appressed;
pedicels absent or to 1 mm, strigose.
2-15 cm long, 0.3-2 cm wide, sometimes dense;
axillary panicles common, partly included in the sheaths;
primary branches 0.3-4.2 cm, ascending, appressed, occasionally diverging up to 30° from the rachises;
pedicels 0.4-5 mm, smooth or scabrous.
3-8 mm.
2.2-4 mm, imbricate along the branches.
subequal, 3-8 mm (including the awn), about 1.3-2 times longer than the lemmas, smooth or scabridulous distally, 1-veined, acuminate, awned, awns to 5 mm;
lemmas 1.9-3.1 mm, lanceolate, pubescent on the calluses, mid-veins, and margins, hairs to 1.2 mm, apices scabridulous, acuminate, unawned or awned, awns to 1 mm;
paleas 1.9-3.1 mm, lanceolate, loosely pilose between the veins, apices acuminate;
anthers 0.8-1.5 mm, yellowish.
subequal, 2-4 mm, 3/4 as long as to longer than the lemmas, 1-veined, unawned or awned, awns to 2 mm;
upper glumes acuminate to acute;
lemmas 2.2-4 mm, narrowly lanceolate, hairy on the calluses, lower 1/3 of the midveins, and margins, hairs 0.3-0.8 mm, apices scabridulous, acuminate, unawned or awned, awns 0.1-13 mm;
paleas 2.3-4 mm, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate;
anthers 0.3-0.6 mm, usually yellow, occasionally purplish.
1-1.6 mm, fusiform, brown.
1.6-1.9 mm, fusiform, brown.
= 20.
= 40.
Muhlenbergia glomerata
Muhlenbergia frondosa
Muhlenbergia glomerata grows in meadows, marshes, bogs, alkaline fens, lake margins, stream banks, beside irrigation ditches and hot springs, and on gravelly slopes, in many different plant communities, at elevations of 30-2300 m. It is most common in southern Canada and the northeastern United States, but grows sporadically throughout the western United States. It is not known from Mexico.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Muhlenbergia frondosa grows in forest borders, thickets, clearings, alluvial plains, and disturbed sites within deciduous forests, at elevations of 20-1000 m. It grows only in southern Canada and the contiguous United States. The collection from Oregon was made in an artificial cranberry bog and was probably introduced with the plants.
Plants with unawned or shortly (less than 4 mm) awned lemmas can be called M. frondosa forma frondosa, and those with lemma awns 4-13 mm long, M. frondosa forma commutata (Scribn.) Fernald.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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