Muhlenbergia asperifolia(Nees & Meyen ex Trin.) Parodi

scratchgrass

WFO wfo-0000880610 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Tim Messick
fig. a Tim Messick, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-26 / obs. 153972247
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Dominic Gentilcore
fig. b Dominic Gentilcore, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 103046778
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Eric Watts
fig. c Eric Watts, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 51224809
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Jeff D Hansen
fig. d Jeff D Hansen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 25926521
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Jim Morefield
fig. e Jim Morefield, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102715483
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Jim Morefield
fig. f Jim Morefield, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 13537402
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. g Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159303086
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. h Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 140077561

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 44 botanical countries

Regions where Muhlenbergia asperifolia is native: Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Manitoba, Maryland, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bolivia, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South AlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyManitobaMarylandMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SouthwestMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew MexicoNew YorkNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTexasUtahWashingtonWisconsinWyomingArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBoliviaChile CentralChile NorthChile South
Native distribution of Muhlenbergia asperifolia, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alberta ABT NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Dakota NDA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS
Bolivia BOL
Chile Central CLC
Chile North CLN
Chile South CLS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 242 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -17.1 °C -6.5 °C 3.3 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 24.1 °C 28.3 °C 36.5 °C
Annual rainfall 179 mm 372 mm 1,009 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 13 mm 40 mm 192 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 242 research-grade observations of Muhlenbergia asperifolia that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 10 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Agrostis distichophylla Phil.
  • Agrostis eremophila Speg.
  • Sporobolus asperifolius (Nees & Meyen ex Trin.) Nees & Meyen
  • Sporobolus asperifolius var. major Vasey
  • Sporobolus copiapinus Phil.
  • Sporobolus deserticola Phil.
  • Sporobolus distichophyllus Phil.
  • Sporobolus sarmentosus Griseb.
  • Vilfa asperifolia Meyen
  • Vilfa asperifolia Nees & Meyen ex Trin.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.