E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Muhlenbergia filiformis (Thurb. ex S. Watson) Rydb.
slender muhly (pullup muhly; pull-up muhly)
Poaceae (Grass family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Curtis Bjork  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #21989)

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Distribution of Muhlenbergia filiformis
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Species Information

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General:
Annual, tufted grass from fibrous roots, often rooting at the lower nodes, sometimes forming perennial mats; stems solid, erect to abruptly bent, freely branching below, (3) 5-20 (35) cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths smooth or minutely rough; blades flat or in-rolled, 0.6-1.6 mm wide, 1-4 (6) cm long, rough to hairy above, smooth or minutely rough below; ligules translucent to membranous, blunt to sharp-pointed, 1-3.5 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a very narrow, compact, spikelike, interrupted panicle, 1.6-6 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, few-flowered, the branches ascending, closely appressed, 0.9-1.2 cm long; spikelets 1-flowered, nearly unstalked to short-stalked; glumes greenish-grey, smooth, more or less jagged, 1-nerved, 0.6-1.7 mm long, subequal, blunt, rounded to nearly sharp-pointed, the awn tips about 0.4 mm long, the lower ones 0.6-1.4 mm long, the upper ones 0.7-1.7 mm long; lemmas lanceolate, dark greenish, with appressed, inconspicuous hairs along midnerves and margins on the lower 3/4 or smooth, minutely rough near the tips, (1.5) 1.8-2.5 (3.2) mm long, including the long-pointed to sharp-pointed, less than 1 mm long, awnlike tips, the calluses not bearded; paleas lanceolate, minutely rough near the tips, 1.6-2.6 (3.1) mm long; anthers 0.5-1.2 mm long, purplish.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Wet to moist meadows, seeps, and streambanks in the montane zone; rare in SW BC, known only from Chilliwack Lake and Dewar Hot Springs; E to AB and S to SD, KS, NM, AZ, CA and NW MX.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Muhlenbergia filiformis var. fortis E.H. Kelso
Muhlenbergia idahoensis H. St. John
Muhlenbergia simplex (Scribn.) Rydb.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References