Muhlenbergia cenchroides(Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) P.M.Peterson

relaxgrass

WFO wfo-0000918136 Accepted WFO 2026-06 4 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–d · 1 observation

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 1 time, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Muhlenbergia cenchroides, photographed by Viacheslav Shalisko
fig. a Viacheslav Shalisko, CC BY 4.0 / 2018-04-13 / obs. 15354193
Muhlenbergia cenchroides, photographed by Viacheslav Shalisko
fig. b Viacheslav Shalisko, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 15354195
Muhlenbergia cenchroides, photographed by Viacheslav Shalisko
fig. c Viacheslav Shalisko, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 15354189
Muhlenbergia cenchroides, photographed by Viacheslav Shalisko
fig. d Viacheslav Shalisko, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 15354197

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 17 botanical countries

Regions where Muhlenbergia cenchroides is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Bolivia, Brazil Southeast, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Venezuela Mexico CentralMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBoliviaBrazil SoutheastColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasNicaraguaPanamáPeruVenezuela
Native distribution of Muhlenbergia cenchroides, 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
Bolivia BOL SOUTHERN AMERICA
Brazil Southeast BZL
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Honduras HON
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

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.

Also published as 26 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.

  • Aegopogon breviglumis (Scribn.) Nash
  • Aegopogon cenchroides Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.
  • Aegopogon cenchroides var. abortivus E.Fourn.
  • Aegopogon cenchroides var. breviglumis (Scribn.) Beetle
  • Aegopogon cenchroides var. cenchroides
  • Aegopogon cenchroides var. geminiflorus (Kunth) Griseb.
  • Aegopogon cenchroides var. multisetus (Steud.) E.Fourn.
  • Aegopogon cenchroides var. trisetus (Lag.) E.Fourn.
  • Aegopogon geminiflorus Kunth
  • Aegopogon geminiflorus var. breviglumis Scribn.
  • Aegopogon gracilis Cav. ex Roem. & Schult.
  • Aegopogon guatemalensis Gand.
  • Aegopogon multisetus Steud.
  • Aegopogon pusillus Spreng.
  • Aegopogon pusillus P.Beauv.
  • Aegopogon quinquesetus Roem. & Schult.
  • Aegopogon setifer Nees
  • Aegopogon submuticus Rupr. ex Trin.
  • Aegopogon trisetus Roem. & Schult.
  • Atherophora secunda Willd. ex Steud.
  • Chloris pedicellata Steud. ex E.Fourn.
  • Cynosurus gracilis Cav. ex Roem. & Schult.
  • Hymenothecium quinquesetum Lag.
  • Hymenothecium trisetum Lag.

and 2 more.

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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol AECE. public domain. 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.