Participant Info

Species

Muhlenbergia paniculata [Schedonnardus paniculatus] [Lepturus paniculatus]

Family

Poaceae

CommonName

tumblegrass

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1939

LatestDate

1999

Ecosystem

basin, montane, ruderal

Geobotanical

Garitas, UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Costilla, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Tumblegrass has been vouchered from only three locations in the Watershed: Little La Garita Creek, 8 miles west of La Garita (Saguache Co, 1939), near Crestone (Saguache Co, 1999), and beside Hwy 159 0.5 air miles north of the New Mexico line (Costilla Co, 1999). So the habitat is dry and gravelly, from basin to montane, sometimes ruderal. At maturity, the panicle breaks off and becomes a tumbleweed, spreading its seeds. The USA distribution is considerable, covering the Great Plains down through all of Texas, and the Rockies from Canadian to Mexican borders. Muhlenbergia paniculata follows the Rio Grande drainage, spottily, almost to the Gulf of Mexico. Note that traditionally, this taxon occupied the only species in the Genus Schedonnardus, but recently has been placed in Muhlenbergia (see POWO).

Annotation