Satin Grass, Mexican Muhly, Muhlenbergia mexicana, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Grasses of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Height	Prime Season
	Satin Grass	Muhlenbergia mexicana (L.) Trin.	Poaceae (Grasses)	Woodland	1 to 3 feet	July, August
	Native Status	Satin Grass, AKA: Mexican Muhly, Mexican Pink Satin Grass. This native perennial is found in most of the United States except for a few states in humid SE. In Minnesota it is found in most counties of the state but with many exceptions in the dryer SW Quadrant.
Notes	Satin Grass grass prefers full sun but will tolerate shade, but requires a moist soil. It is not a long-lived plant. Like most of the Muhlenbergia genus, it grows by rhizomes and thus can form colonies. Stems are erect and much branched above the base. Sheaths are usually smooth and somewhat keeled (like a boat hull). Leaf blades are flat, to 8" long and narrow (to 1/2" wide). The flowers are green but not conspicuous. The flowering heads form either terminally or on side branches and are up to 8" long. Spikelets are often purple tinged. Awns, if present, are only 2mm long. It can cross with the other Muhlenbergia in the Garden, M. racemosa. While palatable to grazing animals, it is not an important forage grass. The genus name is after Gotthilf Heinrich Muhlenberg (1753-1815) a U.S. citizen and German educated botanist. Despite the species name, mexicana, it grows only in the United States and Canada.


Photo above ©Emmet J. Judziewicz, University of Wisconsin, Steven' Point.	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: 185.
Below: The flowering head containing the spikelets. Photo ©Robert W. Freckmann, University of Wisconsin, Steven' Point.

Notes: This grass is indigenous to the Garden. Eloise Butler catalogued it on May 31, 1907.

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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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