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mat muhly, Matted muhly, muhlenbergie de Richardson, Richardson's muhly, soft-leaf muhly

hair-awn muhly, hairy-awn muhly

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous, not cespitose, often mat-forming. Plants perennial; cespitose, not rhizomatous.
Culms

5-30 cm tall, 0.4-1 mm thick, decumbent, geniculate, or erect;

internodes usually nodulose (occasionally smooth) for most of their length, puberulent or nodulose below the nodes.

60-100 (150) cm, erect from the base, not conspicuously branched;

internodes mostly glabrous, sometimes puberulent below the nodes.

Sheaths

shorter or longer than the internodes, glabrous;

ligules 0.8-3 mm, membranous, acute to truncate, erose;

blades 0.4-6.5 cm long, 0.5-4.2 mm wide, flat or involute, straight or arcuate-spreading, glabrous abaxially, hirtellous adaxially.

glabrous or puberulent, basal sheaths rounded, often becoming fibrous, but never spirally coiled, at maturity;

ligules 1.8-5(10) mm, membranous, firm, strongly decurrent, obtuse;

blades 10-35(80) cm long, 2-4 mm wide, flat or involute, smooth abaxially, scabrous adaxially.

Panicles

1-15 cm long, 0.1-1.7 cm wide, exserted, narrow or spikelike, rachises usually concealed by the branches;

primary branches 0.4-5 cm, usually closely appressed at maturity, rarely diverging up to 20° from the rachises;

pedicels 0.2-2 mm, setulose.

15-50(60) cm long, 5-30(41) cm wide, longer than wide, diffuse;

primary branches 2-20 cm, capillary, diverging 30-100° from the rachises, naked basally, lower branches with 5-20 spikelets;

pedicels 10-40(50) mm, longer than the spikelets, capillary, flexible.

Spikelets

1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.

3-5 mm, usually purple, occasionally green, brown, or stramineous.

Glumes

subequal, 0.6-2 mm, 1/3– 1/2 as long as the lemmas, green, 1(2)-veined, acute, sometimes mucronate, mucros less than 0.2 mm;

lemmas 1.7-2.6(3.1) mm, lanceolate, dark greenish, plumbeous, or mottled, glabrous, apices scabridulous, acute to acuminate, sometimes mucronate, mucros to 0.5 mm;

paleas 1.2-2.4(2.9) mm, lanceolate, acute;

anthers 0.9-1.6 mm, yellow to purplish.

subequal, (0.3)1-1.5(2) mm, usually less than 1/2 as long as the lemmas, glabrous;

lower glumes 1-veined, usually unawned, rarely awned, awns 1-3 mm;

upper glumes 1-veined, rarely 3-veined, acute to acuminate, often erose, usually unawned, rarely awned, awns 1-3(5) mm;

lemmas 3-5 mm, lanceolate, not shiny, calluses shortly pubescent, apices scabrous, acuminate, sometimes with 2 setaceous teeth, teeth to 1 mm, unawned or awned, awns 2-13(18) mm, clearly demarcated from the lemma bodies;

paleas 2-4.5 mm, lanceolate, acuminate, usually unawned;

anthers 1.5-2 mm, purple.

Caryopses

0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.

2-2.5 mm, narrowly elliptic, brownish.

2n

= 40.

= unknown.

Muhlenbergia richardsonis

Muhlenbergia capillaris

Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; PR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Muhlenbergia richardsonis grows in open sites in alkaline meadows, prairies, sandy arroyo bottoms, talus slopes, rocky flats and the shores of rivers, at elevations of 60-3300 m. It is the most widespread species of Muhlenbergia in the Flora region, extending from the Yukon Territory to Quebec in the north and to northern Baja California, Mexico, in the south. Morden and Hatch (1996) reported that it also grows in Alaska, but no voucher specimen has been located.

Muhlenbergia richardsonis is often confused with M. cuspidata, which differs in lacking rhizomes and having shorter ligules, and sometimes with M. filiformis, which differs in being a weak annual with glabrous internodes and obtuse, erose glumes.

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

In the southeastern United States, Muhlenbergia capillaris usually grows in rocky or clay soils in open woodlands and savannahs and on calcareous outcrops, at elevations of 0-500 m. In the northeastern states, it is also found on diabase and sandstone outcrops and ridges. Its native range includes the southeastern United States, Bahamas, and possibly various Caribbean islands. It is also grown as an ornamental.

Muhlenbergia capillaris resembles M. reverchonii in many respects, but differs it is dull, apically scabrous lemmas.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 177. FNA vol. 25, p. 188.
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. 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. 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. arenicola, M. arizonica, M. arsenei, M. asperifolia, M. brevis, M. bushii, M. californica, 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
Synonyms Sporobolus depauperatus, M. squarrosa
Name authority (Trin.) Rydb. (Lam.) Trin.
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