Participant Info

Species

Muhlenbergia tricholepsis [Blepharoneuron tricholepis] [Vilpa tricholepsis]

Family

Poaceae

CommonName

pine dropseed, hairy dropseed

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1914

LatestDate

2025

Ecosystem

foothill, montane

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

Cumbres, Wolf Creek

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Richard Haswell: Rio Grande Co, just south of Middle San Francisco Creek trailhead 16 Sept 2025

Comments

Pine dropseed has been vouchered often from the Watershed, although mostly from the west-side ranges. On the east side, it has been observed near Crestone just east of the Great Sand Dunes NPP, and in Vermejo Park in the Culebras. In part because of its plenteous seeds, Muhlenbergia tricholepsis is an important forage plant in the montane, growing in wooded openings, in open meadows, and on rocky slopes. Perennial and warm-season, the species is centered in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. M. tricholepsis follows the Rio Grande drainage down to the Big Bend region of Texas. Note that the traditional name has been Blepharoneuron tricholepsis. The placement of the taxon in the genus Muhlenbergia relies on DNA sequences (Peterson, Romaschenko, and Johnson, 2010).

Annotation