Muhly Grass, Marsh Muhly, Muhlenbergia racemosa, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Grasses of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Height	Prime Season
	Muhly Grass	Muhlenbergia racemosa (Michx.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.	Poaceae (Grasses)	Woodland	1 to 3 feet	July to September
	Native Status	AKA Marsh Muhly or Green Muhly. Muhly Grass covers most of the United States and the lower Canadian Provinces. It is absent in most of the SE States. In Minnesota it is found throughout the state in about 2/3rds of the counties with the exception widely scattered.
Notes	Muhly Grass is a warm season perennial growing from rhizomes, which are long and scaly. It grows on moist sites as the alternate common name implies. There are about 15 Muhly grasses that grow in the Great Plains, most of which prefer drier habitats. This one prefers full sun and a moist soil. Flowering occurs from July to September with fruit forming from late September. It is similar to M. mexicana with which it can cross. Stems are erect to sprawling, light green in color and smooth. Leaf blades are up to 4" long and narrow, flat and dark green, rough on the surface, with long leaf sheaths. They are alternate and ascending. The flower head (Panicle) containing the spikelets is about 5" long and narrow (1/2" wide). M. racemosa is very similar to M. glomerata and some references group the two, however, there are distinct differences in the flower and seed construction. Growing by rhizomes, it is able to from dense colonies. It is palatable for grazing animals when young but is usually not a grass considered for forage. The genus name is after Gotthilf Heinrich Muhlenberg (1753-1815) a U.S. citizen and German educated botanist. The species name, racemosa, refers to the flower head being a raceme, that is the individual flowers are stalked to a single central stem.


Above: The flowering raceme with maturing spikelets. Note the individually stalked spikelets. Photo ©Robert H. Molenbrock, USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database	Drawing above courtesy USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 187.
Below: An example of the flowering racemes held above with the flat curving leaf blades on the upper stem. Photo ©Emmet J. Judziewicz, University of Wisconsin, Steven's Point	Below: A flowering head emerging from the leaf axil. Photo ©Emmet J. Judziewicz, University of Wisconsin, Steven's Point

Below: A fully emerged flowering head prior to maturity. Photo ©John Hilty, Illinois Wildflowers	Below: Example of the leaf and stem structure. Photo ©John Hilty, Illinois Wildflowers

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 28c, W2, W3, W5 & W6. Distribution principally from W2 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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