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Deergrass

Muhlenbergia rigens (Benth.) Hitchc.

Comprehensive Description

provided by North American Flora
Muhlenbergia rigens (Benth.) Hitchc. Jour. Wash Acad. Sci. 23:453. 1933.
Epicam pes rtgeyis Benth. Jour. Linn. Soc. 19: 88. 1881. (Based on Cinna macroura as described
by Thurber; S. Wats. Bot. Calif. 2: 276. 1880.) Crypsinna rigens Jones, Contr. West. Bot. 14: 8. 1912. (Based on Epicatnpes rigens Benth.)
Perennial; culms cespitose in small bunches, puberulent, scaberulous below the panicle, 1-1.5 meters tall, with 1 or 2 nodes near the base; sheaths glabrous or slightly rough, overlapping; ligule truncate, about 1-2 mm. long, somewhat auricled at the sides; blades scabrous, elongate, involute, tapering into a long slender point ; panicle grayish or pale, slender, spikelike, 15-30 cm. long or more; glumes 2-3 mm. long, from acute to obtuse or somewhat erose, scabrouspuberulent, rarely faintly 3-nerved; lemma slightly exceeding the glumes, scaberulous, sparsely pilose at base, 3-nerved toward the narrowed summit, awnless.
Type locality: California.
Distribution: Dry or open ground, hillsides, gullies, and open forest, Texas to southern California and northern Mexico.
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bibliographic citation
Albert Spear Hitchcock. 1935. (POALES); POACEAE (pars). North American flora. vol 17(6). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
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North American Flora

Comprehensive Description

provided by North American Flora
Muhlenbergia leptoura (Piper) Hitchcock
Epicampes leptoura Piper, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 18: 143. 1905.
Crypsinna setiglumis Jones, Contr. West. Hot. 14: 8. 1912. (Type from Garcia. Chihuahua, Jones in 1903.)
Perennial; culms comparatively slender, glabrous, scabrous below the panicle, 60-120 cm. tall, with 2-4 nodes; sheaths glabrous, longer than the internodes; ligule truncate, 2-3 mm. long; blades flat or usually involute, scabrous, elongate, attenuate to a long fine point, sometimes as much as 3 mm. wide near base ; panicle dense, spikelike, erect, pale, sometimes interrupted below, 10-25 cm. long, 5-6 mm. thick, the lower branches sometimes as much as 1 cm. long, the axis angled, scabrous; glumes lanceolate, rather thin, scabrous on the keel and slightly so on the back, 3-4 mm. long, extending into a short awn as much as 2 mm. long; lemma scabrous, rather broad, 3-nerved, awnless, 2-3 mm. long; palea broad, as long as or a little longer than the lemma.
Type locality: Colonia Garcia, Chihuahua (Townsend &• Barber 341). Distribution: Canyons and rocky beds of ravines. Chihuahua.
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bibliographic citation
Albert Spear Hitchcock. 1935. (POALES); POACEAE (pars). North American flora. vol 17(6). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
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Physical Description

provided by USDA PLANTS text
Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems trailing, spreading or prostrate, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades very narrow or filiform, less than 2 mm wide, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence spike linear or cylindric, several times longer than wide, Inflorescence branches more than 10 t o numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma mucronate, very shortly beaked or awned, less than 1-2 mm, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs shorter than lemma, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.
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Dr. David Bogler
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USDA PLANTS text

Muhlenbergia rigens

provided by wikipedia EN

Muhlenbergia rigens, commonly known as deergrass, is a warm season perennial bunchgrass. It is found in sandy or well-drained soils below 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in elevation in the Southwestern United States and parts of Mexico.

Description

Deergrass is characterized by dense, tufted basal foliage consisting of narrow pointed leaves that reach lengths of about 3 feet (0.91 m). The foliage ranges in color from light silver-green to purple. The spikelike stems are less than half an inch wide and 3–4 feet (0.91–1.22 m) in length. During bloom, the numerous flowered panicles often reach heights of five feet. The spikelets consist of a single awnless floret with a 3-nerved lemma.

Distribution

The native range of the grass extends north into Shasta County, California, and south into New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.[1][2] There it inhabits a wide range of ecotypes including grassland, riparian, chaparral, mixed conifer, and oak woodland communities. Deergrass can grow in areas with periodic flooding, but cannot tolerate standing water and poorly drained soils. It prefers full sun but is shade-tolerant.[3]

Uses

The young shoots are browsed by a variety of animals,[4] but with age the plant becomes unpalatable. As such, is useful in an exposed garden setting for its deer resistance.[5] It has also been used for erosion prevention and streambank stabilization because of extensive root systems. Restoration efforts currently use deergrass to displace exotic invasive annuals that dominate some grassland ecosystems. Deergrass can also be used to remediate overtilled, eroded agricultural land where it anchors and returns lost organic matter to the soil. Phytoremediative studies have been conducted to test the ability of deergrass to remove chemicals from agricultural runoff. Its dense stands and extensive roots act as a biofilter effective for herbicide, pesticide, and particulate breakdown.

Among the Zuni people, the grass is attached to the sticks of plume offerings to anthropic gods.[6]

Cultivation and habitat restoration

Muhlenbergia rigens can be established in late spring and early summer by broadcast seeding with irrigation. For best results, 50 seeds per square foot are planted then lightly incorporated just below the soil surface with a culti-packer. Establishment is most successful when steps are taken to mitigate weed growth. Burning, discing, and reduced fertilization schemes to reduce the weed seed bank are recommended.

Container planting is a highly effective way of establishing deergrass. The seed can be sown in flats in May and transplanted in the fall of the same year. In California, except in areas of heavy frost, Muhlenbegia rigens can be successfully planted in winter and spring to take advantage of seasonal rainfall.[7] Stand preparation should be the same as when broadcast-seeded. During transplant, plants should be spaced with a minimum of two feet between them. After establishment little management is required. Irrigation is unnecessary in normal rainfall years and fertilization is not recommended as it may increase weed competition. Burning or mowing can be used every few years to reduce accumulated dead matter.

Because Muhlenbergia rigens uses C4 carbon fixation, it gains an advantage in conditions of drought and high temperature. This characteristic, along with its attractiveness, has gained the plant recent attention as an ornamental in xeriscape gardens. Studies have also demonstrated a high tolerance to salt suggesting possible irrigation using low quality reclaimed waste-water sources at very low cost.[8]

Ecology

Muhlenbergia rigens is a cover for mule deer during fawning periods. Studies have equated reduced deer populations with overgrazed deergrass stands in and near cattle pasture.[9] Young shoots and leaves are grazed by deer, horses, and cattle. It is an overwintering host for many species of Lepidoptera and ladybug. Deergrass seed provides food for many different bird species.

History

Deergrass was important to many Native American tribes who used its long seedstalks as the principal material in coiled baskets. Deergrass underwent an early form of cultivation by many California tribes who regularly burned areas to maintain stands of deergrass, and induce the production of long straight stalks for use in basketry. Each basket required over 3000 stalks, driving the need for cultivation[10] It is believed that much of its current distribution is due to propagation by Native Americans.

References

  1. ^ USDA Plants Profile; Muhlenbergia rigens
  2. ^ Grass Manual Treatment: Muhlenbergia rigens
  3. ^ "Muhlenbergia rigens-Deer Grass_Habit and Cultural Information".
  4. ^ "Muhlenbergia rigens: A Grass for All Seasons, All Reasons_Muhlenbergia rigens_UC".
  5. ^ "Yerba Buena Nursery_California Native Plants & Ferns".
  6. ^ Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #30 (p. 91)
  7. ^ "Manual of California Native Plants_Las Pilitas Nursery".
  8. ^ Hunter, KAM, Wu, L. (2005). Morphological and Physiological Response of Five Californian Native Grass Species to Moderate Salt Spray: Implications for Landscape Irrigation with Reclaimed Water. Journal of Plant Nutrition. 28 247-270
  9. ^ Bowyer, RT. Bleich, VC. (1984). Effects of cattle grazing on selected habitats of southern mule deer. California Fish and Game. 70:4 240-247
  10. ^ Jordan, TA. (2003). Ecological and Cultural Contributions of Controlled Fire Use by Native Californians: A Survey of Literature. American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 27:1 77-90.
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Muhlenbergia rigens: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

Muhlenbergia rigens, commonly known as deergrass, is a warm season perennial bunchgrass. It is found in sandy or well-drained soils below 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in elevation in the Southwestern United States and parts of Mexico.

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