Species Detail Grasses

Plant - Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium, Usage Rights: Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC)		Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants Muhlenbergia brevis - short muhly Plant Form: Grass Family: Poaceae


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Seedheads Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium, Usage Rights: Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC)


	Grass Description - Glossary of Grass Terminology Origin: Native Season: Warm Habitat Description: Grows on rocky slopes, gravelly flats and rocky outcrops; particularly in limestone soils in grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and pine-oak woodland. Plant Communities:Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest Elevation: 5000 - 8000 feet General Description Desc: This grass grows in clumps or tufts, with stems 1 to 8 inches long. Stems may be erect or trailing and sometimes root at the nodes. Leaves are mostly basal, below the middle of the stems. Identification Notes: Spikelets usually in subsessile-stemmed pairs; lower glumes 2-veined, minutely to deeply bifid or with short awns; upper glumes 1-veined or veinless, irregularly notched or awned;Â glumes shorter than the lemmas; lemma awns 3/8 to 3/4 inch long. Grass Type: Annual Rhizomes: N Stolons: N Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N Bushy (highly branched): N Height with Seedheads: Less than 12 inches Seedhead Structure: Branched - contracted Seedhead Droops: N Flowering Period: Aug - Oct Flower Characteristics Number of Flowers per Spikelet: One-flowered Spikelets One-sided: N Awns: Less than 1/4 inch Three Awns: N Awns Bent: N Flower and Seedhead Notes: Seedhead is 1 to 4 inches high bearing laterally compressed spikelets. Seedhead may be partially hidden in leaf sheaths. Spikelets have 1 fertile floret, usually in subsessile-stemmed pairs. Vegetative Charcteristics Blade Hairy: Y Blade with White Margins: Y Blade Cross section: Flat or involute Blade Notes: Blades are 1/2 to 2 inches long and 1/8 inch wide, flat to involute, and covered with fine stiff hairs. Mid-veins and margins are thickened and whitish in color. Leaf blades have auricles. Sheath Hairy: N Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar: N Ligules: Membranous Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area: N Forage Value: Fair to good.


	Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai County 840 Rodeo Dr #C Prescott, AZ 86305 (928) 445-6590	Version 8.0 http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailGrass.php Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022 Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson Legal Disclaimer