Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Muhlenbergia squarrosa
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
Yes
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Grows in open sites in often wet alkaline meadows, prairies, sandy arroyo bottoms, talus slopes, rocky flats and river banks. SEINET plant database shows 2 collections in pinyon-juniper.
Plant Community
Montane Conifer Forest
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Riparian
Low elevation
7000
High elevation
8700
Similar species
Muhlenbergia repens
General Description
Loose mat-forming grass with stems growing along the ground branching from a common root, shooting upward periodically.
Seedhead stems nodular-roughened, decumbent, not creeping; blades are less than 1/8 inch wide, short and usually in-rolled; seedheads narrow; spikelets on short pedicels (stems); prominent rhizomes.
Grass type
Perennial mat or sod-forming
Rhizomes
Yes
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
Less than 12 inches
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
August
Last bloom month
October
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
One-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedhead is 3/4 to 4 inches long, narrow, densely flowered, often interrupted, may be almost spike-like, branches short and appressed.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
No
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface
Flat or edges rolled inward, <1/8 inch wide, <1/4 to 2 inches long, rough below.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous
Auricles
No
Fair.