Scientific Family
Poaceae
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Grows among boulders on rocky slopes and on cliffs, and in dry arroyos, desert flats, and grasslands, frequently in the protection of shrubs.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
6000
General Description
Distinctly bushy in appearance. A large, weak stemmed, many branched, wiry perennial bunchgrass. Bush muhly originally existed in extensive stands on the open range lands of Arizona but now occurs for the most part in the protection of shrubs.
Tufted, wiry and freely branching perennial grass without rhizomes, bent at the base spreading widely; seedheads open or loose; branches naked at the base; glumes without hairs.
Grass type
Perennial bunchgrass
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
Yes
Height with Seedheads
24 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - open and spreading
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
September
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
One-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
1/4 inch to 1 inch
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Fine, many-branched, loosely drooping, purplish. During good years the very numerous seedheads give the entire plant a messy appearance.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
No
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Folded
Blades 1 to 3 inches long, to 1/16 inch wide, usually rough.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous
Auricles
No
Highly palatable and well liked by livestock despite the wiry seedhead stems.