Muhlenbergia pectinata

FNA 2003, Gould 1980

Common Name: combtop muhly Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Low annual with stems 10-33 cm, simple or branched at nodes, decumbent, sometimes rooting at lower nodes, glabrous internodes, sheaths glabrous, margins sparsely hairy toward tips, hairs coarse to 1 mm. Vegetative: Blades 1-6 cm long, 0.6-2 mm wide, flat to loosely involute, appressed-pubescent to sparsely pilose, ligule 0.5-1, ciliate and membranous. Inflorescence: Panicles 4-12 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm wide, exserted or included at base, primary branches 2-3.5 cm, appressed or diverging up to 70 degrees from the rachises, disarticulation above the glumes, pale green, lanceolate spikelets 2.5-5 mm, borne singly; glumes subequal to unequal, abruptly acute to acuminate, unawned or awned, awns to 1.5 mm; lemmas 3-4.5 mm, subulate to lanceolate, 3-5 nerved, glabrous or scabrous above, awned with awns 10-32 mm, slender, flexuous. Ecology: Found on moist rocky slopes, outcrops, along cliffs, canyon walls, and steep slopes from 4,000-8,000 ft (1219-2438 m); flowers September-October. Notes: Distinctive because of its habitat on seasonally wet vertical surfaces. The delicate stems look similar to an annual Aristida, but the habitat and spikelets should be sufficient to help identify this species. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Muhlenbergia is named for Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815) a clergyman and botanist from Pennsylvania; pectinata means comb like. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley, 2010