Muhlenbergia frondosa

(Poir.) Fernald
Common names: Wirestem muhly Muhlenbergie feuillée
Endemic
Synonyms: Muhlenbergia mexicana subsp. commutata Commutata
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 25. Treatment on page 158.

Plants perennial; rhizomatous, not cespitose. Culms 50-110 cm tall, 0.7-1.8 mm thick, ascending, geniculate, or decumbent, bushy and much branched above; internodes smooth and shiny for most of their length, glabrous throughout. Sheaths glabrous, margins hyaline; ligules 0.7-1.7 mm, membranous, truncate, lacerate-ciliolate; blades 4-18 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, flat, glabrous, smooth or scabridulous, those of the lateral branches similar to those of the primary culms. Panicles 2-15 cm long, 0.3-2 cm wide, sometimes dense; axillary panicles common, partly included in the sheaths; primary branches 0.3-4.2 cm, ascending, appressed, occasionally diverging up to 30° from the rachises; pedicels 0.4-5 mm, smooth or scabrous. Spikelets 2.2-4 mm, imbricate along the branches. Glumes subequal, 2-4 mm, 3/4 as long as to longer than the lemmas, 1-veined, unawned or awned, awns to 2 mm; upper glumes acuminate to acute; lemmas 2.2-4 mm, narrowly lanceolate, hairy on the calluses, lower 1/3 of the midveins, and margins, hairs 0.3-0.8 mm, apices scabridulous, acuminate, unawned or awned, awns 0.1-13 mm; paleas 2.3-4 mm, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate; anthers 0.3-0.6 mm, usually yellow, occasionally purplish. Caryopses 1.6-1.9 mm, fusiform, brown. 2n = 40.

Distribution

W.Va., Del., D.C., Wis., N.B., Ont., Que., N.H., N.J., Tex., La., N.C., Tenn., N.Y., Pa., Conn., Mass., Maine, R.I., Va., Md., Kans., N.Dak., Nebr., Okla., S.Dak., Ark., Vt., Ill., Ga., Ind., Iowa, Ohio, Mo., Minn., Mich., Miss., Ky.

Discussion

Muhlenbergia frondosa grows in forest borders, thickets, clearings, alluvial plains, and disturbed sites within deciduous forests, at elevations of 20-1000 m. It grows only in southern Canada and the contiguous United States. The collection from Oregon was made in an artificial cranberry bog and was probably introduced with the plants.

Plants with unawned or shortly (less than 4 mm) awned lemmas can be called M. frondosa forma frondosa, and those with lemma awns 4-13 mm long, M. frondosa forma commutata (Scribn.) Fernald.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Muhlenbergia frondosa"
purplish +  and yellow +
0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br /> (0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br />) +
scabridulous +
acuminate +
Paul M. Peterson +
(Poir.) Fernald +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
sinuous +, flexuous +  and straight +
multiple +, , +  and single +
curled +
0.01 cm0.1 mm <br />1.0e-4 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
not fused +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
membranous +
not pseudopetiolate +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
involute +, folded +  and flat +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (18 cm180 mm <br />0.18 m <br />) +
scabridulous +  and smooth +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
spikelike +
with hairs +  and glabrous +
0.16 cm1.6 mm <br />0.0016 m <br /> (0.19 cm1.9 mm <br />0.0019 m <br />) +
triangular +  and dome--shaped +
sometimes longer +
membranous +
Wirestem muhly +  and Muhlenbergie feuillée +
50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br /> (110 cm1,100 mm <br />1.1 m <br />) +
geniculate +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (300 cm3,000 mm <br />3 m <br />) +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.18 cm1.8 mm <br />0.0018 m <br />) +
W.Va. +, Del. +, D.C. +, Wis. +, N.B. +, Ont. +, Que. +, N.H. +, N.J. +, Tex. +, La. +, N.C. +, Tenn. +, N.Y. +, Pa. +, Conn. +, Mass. +, Maine +, R.I. +, Va. +, Md. +, Kans. +, N.Dak. +, Nebr. +, Okla. +, S.Dak. +, Ark. +, Vt. +, Ill. +, Ga. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Ohio +, Mo. +, Minn. +, Mich. +, Miss. +  and Ky. +
not waisted +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
bisexual +  and fertile +
round +  and compressed +
reduced +
subtending +
subequal +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
uncinate +
0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br /> (0.08 cm0.8 mm <br />8.0e-4 m <br />) +
paniculate +  and racemose +
hollow +  and solid +
not absent +
lanceolate +
0.22 cm2.2 mm <br />0.0022 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
lacerate-ciliolate +
acuminate +  and truncate +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.17 cm1.7 mm <br />0.0017 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
acuminate +  and lanceolate +
0.23 cm2.3 mm <br />0.0023 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
2cm +  and 15cm +
cleistogamous +
spikelike +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
diverging;ascending +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (4.2 cm42 mm <br />0.042 m <br />) +
spikelike +
1 +  and 60 +
compressed +
0.22 cm2.2 mm <br />0.0022 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
compound +  and simple +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Muhlenbergia mexicana subsp. commutata +  and Commutata +
Muhlenbergia frondosa +
Muhlenbergia +
species +
membranous +
shorter than to longer than the florets +
acuminate +  and acute +
7 (?) +  and 13 (?) +
plant +  and not cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +
dioecious +, monoecious +  and synoecious +