Participant Info

Species

Redfieldia flexuosa [Muhlenbergia multiflora] [Redfieldia multiflora] [Gnaphephorum flexuosum]

Family

Poaceae

CommonName

blowout grass, blow-out grass

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1928

LatestDate

2023

Ecosystem

basin, sanddunes

Geobotanical

UBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Great Sand Dunes

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. In the Watershed blowout grass is restricted to active sand dunes and therefore largely to the Great Sand Dunes NNP. Often it is the only vegetation able to grow where it does, in wind swept sand, and therefore easy to recognize. A couple of times, Redfieldia flexuosa has been recorded from north of the Great Sand Dunes NNP, in more stable sand, near Crestone. In the USA, the species is concentrated in similar habitat in the western Great Plains of Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma, but there are scattered locations in Western states, and one isolated occurrence in Illinois. The Great Sand Dunes NNP is the only location for R. flexuosa in the Rio Grande drainage. Note that POWO treats this taxon as Muhlenbergia multiflora.

Annotation