Muhlenbergia pungens

Muhlenbergia pungens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Chloridoideae
Genus:	Muhlenbergia
Species:	M. pungens
Binomial name
Muhlenbergia pungens Thurb.

Muhlenbergia pungens, the sandhill muhly or wickiup grass, is a variety of muhly grass which is found in the arid regions of western North America. It is named after the botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg.

It spreads by forming lateral underground stems and so forms clumps or tussocks. These are useful in binding dry, loose soil and so it may be propagated to stabilise slopes or control erosion. It has little agricultural use but may be eaten by foraging animals. It has been used by the Hopi of Arizona to make brushes.[1]

Sandhill muhly grows in southwestern South Dakota, Kansas, southern Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and in the Texas Panhandle, as well as a disjunct area in Real County, Texas.[2]

References

Citations

1. Kearney & Peebles 1942, p. 113.
2. Kartesz 2010.

Sources

• Bessey, Charles Edwin; Webber, Herbert John (1890). Report of the botanist on the grasses and forage plants, and the catalogue of plants [of Nebraska]. p. 9. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
• Kartesz, John T. (2010). "Asplenium". Biota of North America Program.
• Institute of Renewable Natural Resources (2012-01-25). Field Guide to Texas Grasses. Texas A&M University Press. p. 667. ISBN 978-1-60344-186-5. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
• Kearney, Thomas H.; Peebles, Robert H (May 1942). Flowering Plants and Ferns of Arizona. US Department of Agriculture.
• Kearney, Thomas H.; Peebles, Robert H. (1961-01-01). Arizona Flora, Second edition. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-00637-9. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
• "Muhlenbergia pungens Thurb". United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
• Nebraska. State Board of Agriculture (1890). Annual Report. s.n. p. 244. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
• Samson, Fred B.; Knopf, Fritz L. (1996-08-01). Prairie Conservation: Preserving North America's Most Endangered Ecosystem. Island Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-55963-428-1. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
• "Sandhill Muhly (Muhlenbergia Pungens)". Sagebud. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
• "Sandhill Muhly". Utah State University. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
• Wolfe, Stephen; Thorpe, Jeffrey (2005). "Shifting Sands: Climate Change Impacts on Sand Hills in the Canadian Prairies and Implications for Land Use Management". In Radenbaugh, Todd A.; Sutter, Glenn C. (eds.). Managing Changing Prairie Landscapes. CPRC Press. ISBN 9780889771772.