Muhlenbergia richardsonis
Muhlenbergia villiflora
mat muhly, Matted muhly, muhlenbergie de Richardson, Richardson's muhly, soft-leaf muhly
hairy muhly
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.
4-30 cm tall, to 2 mm thick, erect;
internodes smooth or nodulose.
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.
shorter than the internodes, smooth to nodulose;
ligules 0.4-1.5 mm, membranous, acute, erose;
blades 0.7-3 cm long, 0.2-1.2 mm wide, arcuate-spreading, tightly involute, glabrous abaxially, hirtellous adaxially.
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.
1-5 cm long, 0.1-0.5 cm wide, contracted, not dense, usually completely exserted;
branches 0.2-1.1 cm, appressed to ascending;
pedicels 0.1-1.2 mm, setulose.
1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.
1.4-2.5 mm.
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.
equal, 0.6-1.8 mm, 1/2 - 2/3 as long as the lemmas, glabrous, 1(2, 3)-veined, acute, unawned;
lemmas 1.4-2.5 mm, lanceolate, green or purplish, midveins and margins densely villous for most of their length, hairs 0.4-1 mm, apices acute, unawned, sometimes mucronate, mucros to 0.5 mm;
paleas 1.4-2.3 mm, lanceolate, intercostal region densely villous, apices acute;
anthers 0.9-1.4 mm, yellow, dark green, or purple.
0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.
1-1.4 mm, ellipsoid to fusiform, dark brown.
= 40.
= 20, 40.
Muhlenbergia richardsonis
Muhlenbergia villiflora
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 United States, Muhlenbergia villiflora grows in open ground with alkaline to calcareous soils and on gypsum rock flats, at elevations of 600-1200 m. It usually forms small, isolated populations.
Plants in the United States belong to Muhlenbergia villiflora var. villosa (Swallen) Morden. This variety differs from M. villiflora Hitchc. var. villiflora, which grows in Mexico, in its longer spikelets (1.8-2.5 mm versus 1.4-2.3 mm) and preference for calcareous, rather than gypsiferous, soils.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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