Purple Muhly
Muhlenbergia rigida

Family: Poaceae

Tufted perennial bunchgrass reaching about 3’ tall. Bloom spikes appear in August through Novemvber. The blooms are purple when they first emerge but quickly turn a tan color. A good mounding grass for tidy landscapes. Briefly deciduous or semi-deciduous.

Distinguished by being an erect perennial bunchgrass to 1m with contracted to open, diffuse panicles bearing single-flowered spikelets with long awns 10-22 mm, the entire inflorescence turning distinctly purple.

Full to part sun, moderate water when established.

Muhlenbergia is named for Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815) a clergyman and botanist from Pennsylvania. The specific epithet, rigida, means stiff leaved. 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.

Rocky slopes, in ravines, and on sandy to gravelly slopes from granitic and calcareous substrates;4,000-7,500 ft. southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western Texas; south into southern Mexico; disjunct in South America.

Photo by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery
Muhlenbergia rigida on iNaturalist
Muhlenbergia rigida on SEINET