Muhlenbergia peruviana

(P. Beauv.) Steud.
Common names: Peruvian muhly
Synonyms: Muhlenbergia pulcherrima
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 25. Treatment on page 185.

Plants annual; tufted. Culms 3-27 cm, erect, glabrous. Sheaths usually longer than the internodes, smooth or scabridulous; ligules 1.5-3 mm, membra nous, acute; blades 1-5 cm long, 0.6-1.5 mm wide, flat to involute, smooth or scabridulous abaxially, sometimes shortly pubescent adaxially. Panicles 2-8 cm long, 0.3-3.4 cm wide, contracted or open; primary branches 1-5 cm, diverging up to 80° from the rachises; pedicels 0.4-5 mm, smooth or scabrous. Spikelets 1.4-4.2 mm. Glumes smooth or scabridulous; lower glumes 0.8-2.8 mm, narrow to broadly lanceolate, 1-veined, acute, often awn-tipped; upper glumes 0.9-3 mm, wider than the lower glumes, lanceolate, (1) 2-3-veined, truncate to acute, 2-toothed or 3-toothed; lemmas 1.4-4.2 mm, widest near the base, purplish mottled with dark green, hairy on the calluses and lower M of the lemma bodies, hairs to 0.5 mm, apices acuminate, usually bifid and awned from between the teeth, teeth to 0.5 mm, awns 3-10 mm, flexuous, purplish; paleas 1.3-3.8 mm, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate to subacute; anthers 0.5-1 mm, purplish to yellowish. Caryopses 1-1.6 mm, fusiform, brownish. 2n = 30.

Discussion

Muhlenbergia peruviana grows in open gravelly flats, meadows, rock outcrops, sandy washes, gravelly drainages, rocky slopes, disturbed road cuts, and volcanic flats, in yellow pine forest associations, at elevations of 2000-4600 m. Its primary distribution is to the south of the Flora region, extending from the southwestern United States through Mexico to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.

As treated here, Muhlenbergia peruviana includes what are sometimes identified as M. pulcherrima Scribn. ex Beal, M. pusilla Steud., and M. peruviana s. s. There are, however, numerous intermediates among the three extremes represented by these names.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Muhlenbergia peruviana"
purplish +  and yellowish +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
awned +  and bifid +
acuminate +
Paul M. Peterson +
(P. Beauv.) Steud. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
flexuous +
multiple +, , +  and single +
curled +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
not fused +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
membranous +
not pseudopetiolate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
scabridulous +  and smooth +
flat +  and involute +
0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
spikelike +
with hairs +  and glabrous +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.16 cm1.6 mm <br />0.0016 m <br />) +
triangular +  and dome--shaped +
sometimes longer +
membranous +
Peruvian muhly +
geniculate +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (27 cm270 mm <br />0.27 m <br />) +
Ariz. +  and N.Mex. +
not waisted +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
bisexual +  and fertile +
round +  and compressed +
reduced +
(0)1(2-3)-veined +
shorter or longer +
subtending +
scabridulous +  and smooth +
uncinate +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br />) +
paniculate +  and racemose +
hollow +  and solid +
not absent +
purplish mottled with dark green +
0.14 cm1.4 mm <br />0.0014 m <br /> (0.42 cm4.2 mm <br />0.0042 m <br />) +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
awn-tipped +  and 1-veined +
acute +  and lanceolate +
0.08 cm0.8 mm <br />8.0e-4 m <br /> (0.28 cm2.8 mm <br />0.0028 m <br />) +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
acuminate +  and subacute +
0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br /> (0.38 cm3.8 mm <br />0.0038 m <br />) +
2cm +  and 8cm +
cleistogamous +
spikelike +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (3.4 cm34 mm <br />0.034 m <br />) +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
spikelike +
usually longer +
scabridulous +  and smooth +
1 +  and 60 +
compressed +
0.14 cm1.4 mm <br />0.0014 m <br /> (0.42 cm4.2 mm <br />0.0042 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
compound +  and simple +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Muhlenbergia pulcherrima +
Muhlenbergia peruviana +
Muhlenbergia +
species +
membranous +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br />) +
shorter than to longer than the florets +
truncate +  and acute 2-toothed or 3-toothed +
0.09 cm0.9 mm <br />9.0e-4 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
7 (?) +  and 13 (?) +
stoloniferous +  and rhizomatous +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +
dioecious +, monoecious +  and synoecious +