Muhlenbergia californica
Encyclopedia
Muhlenbergia californica is an uncommon species of grass
known by the common name California muhly. It is endemic to California
Transverse Ranges
, where it is known only from the San Bernardino Mountains
in Southern California
.
It grows in moist habitat, such as streambanks and ditches, in the chaparral and woodlands
.
Muhlenbergia californica is a rhizomatous
perennial grass growing 30 to 70 centimeters tall. The inflorescence
is a narrow array of thin branches bearing many tiny pointed or awned hairy spikelets each a few millimeters long.
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
known by the common name California muhly. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Transverse Ranges
Transverse Ranges
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...
, where it is known only from the San Bernardino Mountains
San Bernardino Mountains
The San Bernardino Mountains are a short transverse mountain range north and east of San Bernardino in Southern California in the United States. The mountains run for approximately 60 miles east-west on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert in southwestern San Bernardino County, north of the...
in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
.
It grows in moist habitat, such as streambanks and ditches, in the chaparral and woodlands
California chaparral and woodlands
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of lower northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California , located on the west coast of North America...
.
Muhlenbergia californica is a rhizomatous
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
perennial grass growing 30 to 70 centimeters tall. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a narrow array of thin branches bearing many tiny pointed or awned hairy spikelets each a few millimeters long.