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Index / Search / Muhlenbergia frondosa

§1 Plant

Muhlenbergia frondosa (Poir.) Fernald

vernacular wirestem muhly — species · Poaceae

USDA
MUFR2
GBIF
2704029
Rank
species
wirestem muhly (Muhlenbergia frondosa)
Platephotograph · Samuel Brinker source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Muhlenbergia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 699 counties across 30 states/territories
Legend Native · 699 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
36–50 in/yr
pH range
5.9–7.9
Root depth
8 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
1,500,000
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 699 counties across 30 states/territories.

Arkansas view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 81 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 27 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 43 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 47 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 23 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 69 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 25 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 14 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 49 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 15 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 72 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 60 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 23 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 52 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 30 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/MUFR2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2704029 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T09:28:40Z