Muhlenbergia capillaris
Hairawn Muhly
Family: Poaceae
This is a clump grass with narrow, glossy green leaves reaching about 3x3’. A haze of pink covers the top of the plant in fall. In the low desert this plant will stay green if sufficiently watered.
This plant is sometimes confused with the Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia sericea), which looks quite similar and has similar reddish haze blooms, but gets up to 6’ tall and wide.
‘Regal Mist’ is an extra reddish, full blooming selection.
’White Cloud’ is a light colored blooming selection. often sold as a variant of M. capillaris, but is actually M. sericea.
Full sun, even reflective heat, to filtered sun (looks best in full sun). Moderate water. Hardy to 0°F
This species is a known attractant for beneficial insects such as ladybug beetles. Tortoises like to hang out under the arching foliage which is shady and cool, often moist. Native grasses are extremely important plants for wildlife: as nesting material for birds as well as native bees and other insects, as habitat for many organisms, and as food: adult insects eat the foliage, granivorous birds depend on many species for seeds, and most grass species are used as larval hosts for many species of butterflies and moths, especially skippers. Many bee species collect the pollen of many species of grasses.
Grasses also play an important role in the ecology of soil, and because they are monocots, they can be planted close to other species of plants (the nature of the root systems of monocots renders them less imposing on neighboring plants). They hold soil down and help prevent erosion. Many species are pioneer plants that convert disturbed soils into hospitable places for other plants.
Used for coiled basketry, particularly in the "low country" of South Carolina, Georgia, and northeast Florida, by people of the Gullah Culture.
Muhlenbergia is named for Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815) a clergyman and botanist from Pennsylvania. The species, capillaris, is derived from the Latin capillus meaning hair-like. There are 180 species of Muhlenbergia with the greatest number native to the southwestern United States and Mexico; there are also native species in Canada, Central and South America and in Asia.
Muhlenbergia capillaris can be found in sandy or rocky woods and clearings originating from a range of host states, which include Florida to East Texas, north to Massachusetts, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Kentucky, southern Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas. It is listed as endangered in Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, and New Jersey, as presumed extirpated in Ohio, and as extirpated in Pennsylvania. Quarrying of trap rock, and residential and other developments, are two threats that have almost indisputably affected New England occurrences of Muhlenbergia capillaris. This muhly grows along the border of roads and in plain prairies. The grass clumps into herds, causing bush-like establishments in the area the hairawn muhly inhabits.
An en masse planting of the Regal Mist selection, photo by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery
Plant in habitat in Florida, photo by sdickman on iNaturalist
Inflorescence detail, photo by Dwayne Estes, iNaturalist
Though white cloud is often sold as a variant of M. capillaris, it is actually M. sericea, a related species. Photo by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery