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bog muhly, muhlenbergie uniflore

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

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

5-45 cm, arising from the bases of old depressed culms, compressed-keeled, developing branches below the lower leaf nodes;

internodes mostly glabrous, sometimes minutely puberulent below the nodes.

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.

Sheaths

longer than the internodes, keeled, keels scabridulous, not becoming papery or spirally coiled when old;

ligules 0.5-1.5 mm, membranous, truncate to obtuse, erose, without lateral lobes;

blades 1-15 cm long, 0.8-2 mm wide, flat to conduplicate, smooth or scabridulous abaxially, hirtellous adaxially, midveins thickened and whitish proximally.

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.

Panicles

2-20 cm long, (0.2)2.5-6 cm wide, diffuse;

primary branches 0.4-6 cm long, about 0.1 mm thick, ascending, diverging 10-60° from the rachises, naked basally;

pedicels 0.2-7 mm, glabrous.

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.

Spikelets

1.3-2.1 mm, dark purplish to plumbeous, occasionally with 2 florets.

1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.

Glumes

equal, 0.4-1.3 mm, glabrous, 1-veined, apices scabrous, acute to obtuse, sometimes erose or notched, unawned;

lemmas 1.2-2 mm, oblong-elliptic, dark purplish to plumbeous, glabrous, faintly 3-veined, apices acute to obtuse, unawned;

paleas 1.3-2.1 mm, oblong-elliptic, glabrous, acute to obtuse;

anthers 0.6-0.9 mm, dark purple.

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.

Caryopses

0.6-0.8 mm, ovoid, brownish.

0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.

2n

= 42.

= 40.

Muhlenbergia uniflora

Muhlenbergia richardsonis

Distribution
from FNA
CT; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; OR; PA; RI; VT; WI; BC; NB; NL; NS; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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]
Discussion

Muhlenbergia uniflora grows in bogs, wet meadows, and lake shores in sandy or peaty, often acidic, soils, at elevations of 0-650 m. It is native to eastern North America, but was collected once in British Columbia, probably having been introduced from ship ballast, and was recently collected from a commercial cranberry bog in Oregon. The collection from Texas may also be an introduction.

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

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.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 181. FNA vol. 25, p. 177.
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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Sporobolus depauperatus, M. squarrosa
Name authority (Muhl.) Fernald (Trin.) Rydb.
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