Biology:Muhlenbergia richardsonis

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Short description: Species of flowering plant

Muhlenbergia richardsonis
Muhlenbergia richardsonis FS-1.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Muhlenbergia
Species:
M. richardsonis
Binomial name
Muhlenbergia richardsonis
(Trin.) Rydb.

Muhlenbergia richardsonis, known by the common name mat muhly, is a species of grass. It is native to North America, where it can be found throughout much of Canada , Alaska, the western half of the contiguous United States through California , and in Baja California, Mexico.

Description

Muhlenbergia richardsonis is a rhizomatous perennial grass producing knotted, mat-forming stems up to about 40 centimeters long. The blue-green leaves are up to 5 or 6 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a narrow cylindrical series of tightly appressed branches bearing gray-green, single-flowered spikelets 2 or 3 millimeters long.

Habitat

Muhlenbergia richardsonis grows in a number of habitat types including talus and meadows in alpine mountain environments, wet alkaline and saline soils, desert arroyos, chaparral, forests and woodlands. It is a species of botanical interest for being an alpine plant utilizing C4 carbon fixation, reported at higher altitudes than any other C4 plant in North America.[1] It occurs at 3,670 metres (12,040 ft) of elevation in California , such as in the White Mountains[2] and 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) meters high in Utah.[3]

Prairie fens

This grass is the only known food plant for the leafhopper Flexamia huroni, which lives only in Michigan.[3] The grass is limited to alkaline prairie fens in the area, an increasingly rare habitat type, making the leafhopper a species of concern itself.[3]

References

  1. Sage, R. F. & T. L. Sage. (2002). Microsite characteristics of Muhlenbergia richardsonis (Trin.) Rydb., an alpine C4 grass from the White Mountains, California. Oecologia 132:4.
  2. Jepson Manual Treatment
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Schultz, J. (2002). Conservation Assessment of Mat Muhly (Muhlenbergia richardsonis). USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region.

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q6933068 entry