Muhlenbergia jonesii

Jones' muhly

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Jones' muhly is a California native perennial grass found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California high Cascades, and northern Sierra Nevada on open slopes at elevations of 1,130 to 2,130 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces delicate purple-tinged flowers in loosely spreading inflorescences 4 to 15 centimeters long. Growing in dense tufts with stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall, it forms compact clumps with multiple grass stems emerging from a single base. Its narrow leaves are flat to slightly folded, 5 to 12 centimeters long and 1 to 2.5 millimeters wide, emerging in tufted clusters from the base of the plant. The grass has distinctive short soft hairs on its lemmas and small purple-colored anthers, giving it a subtle, delicate appearance.

Habitat: Open slopes

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1130-2130 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, n SNH.

California counties: Siskiyou, Lassen, El Dorado, Plumas, Nevada, Shasta, Butte, Placer, Trinity, Modoc

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.