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Muhlenbergia appressa - Devils Canyon muhly

Scientific Family
Poaceae
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No

Grass Description

Origin
Native
Season
Cool

Open canyon bottoms, rocky or sandy slopes, sandy drainages, and rocky road cuts; grama grasslands, oak-juniper woodlands, and chaparral associations.

Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Disturbed Areas
Grasslands
Interior Chaparral
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Low elevation
70
High elevation
5800

General Description

Seedhead stem 4 to 36 inches, erect with sharp bends or prostate on the ground with the tip ascending.

Annual with erect or decumbent stems, much branched below, internodes rough or with stiff hairs below the nodes. Seedhead branches closely appressed, usually < 1/2 inch wide and partially enclosed in the sheath at maturity; glumes generally 1/16 inch.

Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
Yes
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
Yes
Height with Seedheads
12 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
April
Last bloom month
May

Flower Characteristics

Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
1/4 inch to 1 inch
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes

Seedhead primary branches ascending, closely appressed, usually partially included in the sheaths, separate at maturity, usually above the glumes. Spikelets have 1 floret. Lower glumes sometimes rudimentary or absent, occasionally deeply two-lobed.

Vegetative Characteristics

Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Folded

Blades toothed, rough on bottom, hairy on top.

Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous
Auricles
No

Not available.