Sonoran Desert Naturalist >>> Field Guide >>> Sonoran Desert Flora >>> Poaceae >>> Muhlenbergia porteri

Bush Muhly

Muhlenbergia porteri

image © by Michael Plagens

Image made using a flatbed from specimen found at Mesquite Wash, Maricopa County, Arizona.

SHRUBBY: A native shrubby grass with tough lower stems and crown. Clumps can spread out a meter or so wide.

LEAVES: Less than 2 mm wide and up to 10 cm long.

STEMS/CULMS: A half meter to a full meter tall, sometimes branching.

FLOWERS: Broad, open panicled inflorescence with numerous purplish-red spiklets. Very graceful and attractive.

RANGE: Fairly common on rocky slopes in the Sonoran Desert but being threatened by Buffelgrass using the same habitats.

See Also Muhlenbergia microsperma:

Little-seed Muhly is less robust and has smaller spikelets

Poaceae -- Grass Family

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Copyright Michael J. Plagens, page created 9 Aug. 2009, updated 12 Dec. 2011