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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 7
• Muhlenbergia
• Muhlenbergia tenuiflora

Muhlenbergia tenuiflora — slender muhly

Facts

Slender muhly is mainly a species of southern New England, although it extends north into western Vermont. It is typically found in oak- (Quercus) and hickory- (Carya) dominated deciduous forests.

Habitat

Forests, ridges or ledges, woodlands

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  1.1–2.2 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has an awn

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 1
  • 3

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very congested (crowded), and the branches may not be clearly seen without close inspection

  Inflorescence length

  100–330 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Lemma awn base

  the awn is attached right at the tip of the lemma

  Lemma awn length

  0–12 mm

  Lemma awn number

  • the lemma has no awn
  • the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma has hairs at the base

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma vein number

  3

  One or more florets

  there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet length

  2.6–4.5 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  2–2.3 mm

• Growth form

  Rhizomes

  yes

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  4–15 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.4–1.2 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane with fine hairs

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hair type

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Leaf sheath hairs

  • there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath
  • there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • forests
  • ridges or ledges
  • woodlands

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  no

  Stem hairs

  the stem has hairs on it

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae