Wirestem Muhly

Appearance

This is a perennial grass growing about 1.5–3.5 feet, forming short, lateral branches along the central culm. It usually sprawls across the ground or onto neighboring vegetation.

It has a yellow bloom, which in Texas, occurs from March to May. In Illinois, however, the blooming period occurs during late summer to autumn, lasting around 1-3 weeks for one colony of plants. The florets are cross-pollinated by the wind.

Florets drop individually. Leaving behind the glumes. The fruit are 1.6-1.9 mm long, from amber to brown.

Naming

Muhlenbergia frondosa (Poir.) Fern.
Agrostis frondosa Poir.

Distribution

''Muhlenbergia frondosa'' occurs in most of the central and eastern United States. It naturally inhabits moist to wet forest margins and openings, freshwater littoral habitats, and grasslands. It is invasive in some parts of Canada.

Habitat

According to ''Illinois Wildflowers'', ''M. frondosa'' is associated with a variety of animals that feed on or use it as refuge. It is preyed on by insects from dipterans to true bugs. Larvae of a gall fly, ''Astictoneura agrostis'', form scaly galls on this plant.

Other larvae that feed on this grass include that of gall wasp, grass fly, and stink bug. Adult insects feeding on the grass include leafhoppers, and aphids. Additionally, the seeds are probably eaten by birds, and the grass is grazed by cattle and other ungulates. ''M. frondosa'' grows in dense clusters, which provide cover for small fauna such as rodents, reptiles, and arthropods.

Reproduction

A single wire-stemmed muhly plant can produce 450 rhizomes, fragments of which are spread from field to field by farm equipment. Thus, it can be a serious agricultural weed.