''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
In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...
and
saline soils, desert
arroyos
Arroyo often refers to:
* Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek
Arroyo may also refer to:
People
* Arroyo (surname)
Places United States
;California
* Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California
* Arroyo ...
,
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
, forests and woodlands. It is a species of botanical interest for being an alpine plant utilizing
C4 carbon fixation
carbon fixation or the Hatch–Slack pathway is one of three known photosynthetic processes of carbon fixation in plants. It owes the names to the 1960's discovery by Marshall Davidson Hatch and Charles Roger Slack that some plants, when sup ...
, reported at higher altitudes than any other C4 plant in North America. It occurs at of elevation in
California, such as in the
White MountainsJepson Manual Treatment
/ref> and meters high in Utah.[Schultz, J. (2002)]
Conservation Assessment of Mat Muhly (''Muhlenbergia richardsonis'').
USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region.
Prairie fens
This grass is the only known food plant for the leafhopper
A leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and a ...
'' Flexamia huroni'', which lives only in Michigan.[ The grass is limited to alkaline prairie fens in the area, an increasingly rare habitat type, making the leafhopper a species of concern itself.][
]
References
External links
USDA Plants Profile - ''Muhlenbergia richardsonis''Grass Manual Treatment''Muhlenbergia richardsonis'' - Photo gallery
richardsonis
Alpine flora
Native grasses of California
Grasses of Canada
Grasses of the United States
Flora of the Western United States
Flora of the Cascade Range
Flora of the California desert regions
Flora of the Great Basin
Flora of the Rocky Mountains
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Flora of Alaska
Flora of Michigan
Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
North American desert flora
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Chloridoideae-stub