Family: Poaceae
common satin grass, wire-stem muhly
[Muhlenbergia commutata (Scribn.) Bush, more... ]
Etymology: Muhlenbergia: after Gotthilf Heinrich E. Muhlenberg (1753-1815). Born in Trappe, Pennsylvania, educated in Halle, Germany, after returning to US., devoted his leisure hours to the study of the natural sciences, botany in particular.
Plants: perennial grass
Conservation Status: Native
Plants: perennial grass
Conservation Status: Native
Mesic to wet woods of oak, sugar maple-basswood, silver maple-swamp white oak, silver maple-river birch, often along trails, borders, or in clearings. Also along shores of rivers and streams, mesic prairies, thickets, wet river ledges, ditches, marshes, old quarries, along railroads and roadsides. This is our only grass that is slightly scandent or climbing, often forming tangled masses on other vegetation. Widespread south of the Tension Zone and within it.
Flora of North America: Flora of North America Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 3, Wetland Indicator = FACW USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos Grasses of Iowa: Detailed photographs, descriptions, maps