Muhlenbergia capillaris (Lam.) Trin.

Muhlenbergia capillaris, commonly known as the hairawn muhly, is a perennial sedge-like plant that grows to be about 30–90 cm (0.98–2.95 ft) tall and 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) wide. The plant includes a double layer; green, leaf-like structures surround the understory, and purple-pink flowers outgrow them from the bottom up. The plant is a warm-season grass, meaning that leaves begin growth in the summer. During the summer, the leaves stay green, but they morph during the fall to produce a more copper color. The seasonal changes also include the flowers, as they grow out during the fall and stay healthy till the end of autumn. The muhly grows along the border of roads and on plain prairies. The grass clumps into herds, causing bush-like establishments in the area the hairawn muhly inhabits. The flowers are very feathery and add a cloudlike appearance to the top of the grass. It is native to eastern North America and can be used for a multitude of purposes, including ornamental gardening and farming. It was voted 2012 plant of the year by the Garden Club of America.^[1]

Taxonomy

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck described this species in 1791 as Stipa capillaris before it gained its current name from Carl Bernhard von Trinius in 1824.^[2]

Description

Individuals of this species are grouped into shrubs of “capillary”-like branching pattern with green leaves covering the understory and pink flowers outgrowing them. The muhly grass is a cespitose perennial that grows to be 30–90 cm (0.98–2.95 ft) tall and 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) wide.^[3] The blades are rolled, flat to involute during maturity and are about 15–35 cm long and 1.3–3.5 mm wide at the base with tapering or filiform tips. The sterns are erect or decumbent at the base of the shrub. The leaves are inflorescence and narrow with a contracted or open panicle of small spikelets, each spikelet being 1-flowered and rarely 2-flowered.^[4] The wiry, thin leaves are simple and alternating from the stem; they grow to be about 18–36 inches long. The flowers of the grass are grouped together, forming long, airy clusters along a stem that rises above the leaves to a length of about 18 inches (460 mm) and width of 10 inches (250 mm).^[3]

Flowers of M. capillaris are perfect with each having about two or three stamens and anthers that are about 1-1.8 mm long. Spikelets are found on the long, hair-like pedicels that are clavate-thickened at the apex and are slightly scabrous.^[5] The glumes are found to be unequal, and are either longer or shorter than the lemma. The lemma is obtuse to acuminate or awned, while the membranous lemma is narrow, acute, mucronate, or awned, and usually pilose at the base.^[6] The flowers grow during the fall season, especially from September to October, and are usually colored pink or purplish-red. They mature from the bottom up. The plant is a “warm-season” plant, so it starts growing during the summer and is in full bloom during the autumn. The seed stalks are 60–150 cm (2.0–4.9 ft) tall. The flowers produce oblong tan or brown seeds that are less than half an inch long. The plants grow in clumps, but do not spread through above-ground or underground stems.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

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.^[7] However, it is endangered in Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, and New Jersey, and is said to have vanished from Pennsylvania and almost certainly Ohio.^[3] The 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.^[8]

Conservation status in the United States

It is listed as endangered in Connecticut,^[9] Indiana, Maryland, and New Jersey, as presumed extirpated in Ohio, and as extirpated in Pennsylvania.^[10]

Usage

Muhlenbergia capillaris is a perennial plant that can live for an indeterminate time (based on maintenance). Muhly grass prefers a mildly acidic (pH range of 5.5 to 6.8), organic soil. Its advantages for cultivation include being disease resistant, tolerant of shade, and easy to maintain with annual pruning.^[1] Although tolerant of dry spells, it appreciates extra water in cultivation.^[11]

Its hardiness and drought-tolerant properties make it a useful native ornamental grass in land reclamation, and it also has potential as fine fuel for burn management programs to reduce understory.^[3]

It is a known attractant for beneficial insects such as ladybug beetles, and is an excellent garden plant because of its low maintenance and general beauty. The clumping habit makes it excellent for use as wildlife cover,^[3] such as nests and shelter for native birds.^[11]

References

Muhlenbergia capillaris là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Hòa thảo. Loài này được (Lam.) Trin. mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1824.^[1]

Hình ảnh

Chú thích

Liên kết ngoài

• Phương tiện liên quan tới Muhlenbergia capillaris tại Wikimedia Commons
• Dữ liệu liên quan tới Muhlenbergia capillaris tại Wikispecies

털쥐꼬리새(Muhlenbergia capillaris, 영어: Hairawn muhly, Pink muhly)는 쥐꼬리새속에 속하는 여러해살이풀이다. 미국이 원산이며 미국 서부와 중부지역에서 자란다. 대한민국에서는 영문명을 음독한 핑크뮬리나 이를 직역한 분홍쥐꼬리새라고도 부른다.

개요

미국이 원산이며 주로 미국 서부와 중부에서 서식하는 여러해살이풀로, 겉모습이 분홍빛을 띈다고 하여 ‘핑크뮬리’라는 이름으로 불린다. 본래 조경용으로 식재되는 식물로^{[출처 필요]} 자연적으로 연한 분홍빛을 띠며, 멀리서 보면 분홍빛의 자연스러운 물결을 이루는 것으로 보여서 인기가 많은 식물로 알려져 있다. 2010년대 후반 들어 대한민국에서는 인공적으로 핑크뮬리를 식재한 곳이 늘어나면서 인기를 얻고 있다.^[1]

형태

겉모습이 자연스러운 분홍빛을 띠고 있다. 높이는 30cm ~ 90cm이고 뿌리가 옆으로 뻗지 않으며 마디에 털이 있다. 잎은 줄기에서 자라며, 꽃은 작은 이삭으로 납작한 편으로 하나의 꽃이 이식꽃차례를 이루는 것이 특징이다. 가을(9월 ~ 11월) 사이에 분홍빛으로 물들어서 분홍빛 내지 연한 자줏빛을 띠며 피어난다.

식재 및 서식

흔히 모래와 자갈이 많은 곳에서 자라며 약간 건조한 트인 지대에서 잘 자라고 해가 잘 드는 따뜻한 기운을 받으며 생육한다.

위해성 논란

한편 대한민국에서는 외래종인 털쥐꼬리새가 생태계에 교란을 주게 될지 위해성 여부를 검토하는 것으로 알려졌다.^[2]

각주