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Muhlenbergia richardsonis

MAT MUHLY


Higher Taxonomy
Family: Poaceae (Gramineae)View DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: GRASS FAMILY
Habit: Annual to woody perennial herb; roots generally fibrous. Stem: generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid. Leaf: alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear, parallel-veined; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base. Inflorescence: various (of generally many spikelets). Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets (lemma, palea, flower) 1--many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally +- transparent, +- enclosed by lemma. Flower: generally bisexual, minute; perianth vestigial; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose. Fruit: grain, sometimes achene- or utricle-like.
Genera In Family: 650--900 genera; +- 10550 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials). Note: Generally wind-pollinated. Achnatherum, Ampelodesmos, Hesperostipa, Nassella, Piptatherum, Piptochaetium, Ptilagrostis moved to Stipa; Elytrigia, Leymus, Pascopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Taeniatherum to Elymus; Hierochloe to Anthoxanthum; Lolium, Vulpia to Festuca; Lycurus to Muhlenbergia; Monanthochloe to Distichlis; Pleuraphis to Hilaria; Rhynchelytrum to Melinis. The following taxa (in genera not included here), recorded in California from historical collections or reported in literature, are extirpated, lacking vouchers, or not considered naturalized: Acrachne racemosa (Roth) Ohwi, Allolepis texana (Vasey) Soderstr. & H.F. Decker, Amphibromus nervosus (Hook. f.) Baill., Axonopus affinis Chase, Axonopus fissifolius (Raddi) Kuhlm., Coix lacryma-jobi L., Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt., Dinebra retroflexa (Vahl) Panz., Eremochloa ciliaris (L.) Merr., Eustachys distichophylla (Lag.) Nees, Gaudinia fragilis (L.) P. Beauv., Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Neyraudia arundinacea (L.) Henrard, Phyllostachys aurea Rivière & C. Rivière, Phyllostachys bambusoides Siebold & Zuccarini, Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) Clayton, Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt.) Branner & Coville, Schizachyrium cirratum (Hack.) Wooton & Standl., Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Themeda quadrivalvis (L.) Kuntze, Thysanolaena latifolia (Hornem.) Honda, Tribolium obliterum (Hemsl.) Renvoize, Zea mays L., Zizania palustris L. var. interior (Fassett) Dore, Zoysia japonica Steud. Paspalum pubiflorum E. Fourn., Paspalum quadrifarium Lam., are now reported for southern California (J Bot Res Inst Texas 4:761--770). See Glossary p. 30 for illustrations of general family characteristics.
eFlora Treatment Author: James P. Smith, Jr., except as noted
Scientific Editor: James P. Smith, Jr., J. Travis Columbus, Dieter H. Wilken.
Genus: MuhlenbergiaView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: MUHLY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, occasionally mat-like, often rhizomed. Stem: decumbent to erect, +- clumped. Leaf: basal and cauline; sheath open; ligule membranous, entire to irregularly toothed, occasionally with 1 large tooth on each side; blade flat to rolled. Inflorescence: panicle-like, narrow to open; branches spreading to appressed. Spikelet: generally single (bisexual) occasionally paired (bisexual, staminate or sterile); glumes subequal, generally 1--3-veined, short-pointed to awned, upper glume occasionally 3-veined; florets 1, occasionally 2; axis breaking above glumes; lemma short-pointed to awned, glabrous to hairy, 3-veined; palea <= lemma. Fruit: +- fusiform, red-brown, generally falling with lemma and palea.
Etymology: (G.H.E. Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania botanist, 1753--1815) Note: Reports of Muhlenbergia dumosa Vasey, Muhlenbergia glauca (Nees) B.D. Jacks., Muhlenbergia thurberi (Scribn.) Rydb. have proved to be erroneous.
eFlora Treatment Author: Paul M. Peterson & Keir Morse
Unabridged Reference: Peterson 2003 FNANM 24:145--200; Reeder 1981 in Gould and Moran 1981 San Diego Soc Nat Hist Memoir 12:67--78
Muhlenbergia richardsonis (Trin.) Rydb.
NATIVE
Habit: Perennial herb, matted; rhizome scaly. Stem: decumbent to erect, 0.5--4 dm; lower nodes often swollen or knot-like. Leaf: ligule 1--2.5 mm, acute to truncate, decurrent to sheath; blade 1--5 cm, 1--2 mm wide, flat to +- rolled. Inflorescence: 1--12 cm, 1--4 mm wide, cylindric, narrow; axis generally obscured by appressed branches. Spikelet: glumes 0.8--1.8 mm, acute to +- short-awned; lemma 2--3 mm, glabrous, +- scabrous at tip, +- short-awned, awn < 0.5 mm; anther 1.2--1.5, yellow to purple. Chromosomes: 2n=40.
Ecology: Open sites, +- moist meadows, talus slopes, along streams; Elevation: 1220--3670 m. Bioregional Distribution: KR, CaRH, SNH, SCoRO, TR, SnJt, GB, DMtns; Distribution Outside California: to Canada, northeastern United States, Mexico. Flowering Time: Jun--Aug
Jepson eFlora Author: Paul M. Peterson & Keir Morse
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Botanical illustration including Muhlenbergia richardsonisbotanical illustration including Muhlenbergia richardsonis


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Citation for this treatment: Paul M. Peterson & Keir Morse 2023, Muhlenbergia richardsonis, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Revision 12, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=34117, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Muhlenbergia richardsonis
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©2007 Steve Matson
Muhlenbergia richardsonis
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©2006 Steve Matson
Muhlenbergia richardsonis
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©2017 Neal Kramer
Muhlenbergia richardsonis
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©2015 Keir Morse
Muhlenbergia richardsonis
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©2017 Neal Kramer

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Geographic subdivisions for Muhlenbergia richardsonis:
KR, CaRH, SNH, SCoRO, TR, SnJt, GB, DMtns
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
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