Muhlenbergia frondosa(Poir.) Fernald

wirestem muhly

WFO wfo-0000880742 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Chase Mathey
fig. a Chase Mathey, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-26 / obs. 159966943
Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. b Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159296273
Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. c Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 96468681
Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. d Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 91458568
Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. e Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159881750
Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Étienne Léveillé-Bourret
fig. f Étienne Léveillé-Bourret, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 105136889
Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. g Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 97017234
Muhlenbergia frondosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. h Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 97017127

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 39 botanical countries

Regions where Muhlenbergia frondosa is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArkansasConnecticutGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Muhlenbergia frondosa, 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. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

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 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 frondosa Poir.
  • Calamagrostis compressa Döll
  • Muhlenbergia brachyphylla f. aristata E.J.Palmer & Steyerm.
  • Muhlenbergia commutata (Scribn.) Bush
  • Muhlenbergia frondosa f. commutata (Scribn.) Fernald
  • Muhlenbergia frondosa f. frondosa
  • Muhlenbergia mexicana f. commutata (Scribn.) Wiegand
  • Muhlenbergia mexicana subsp. commutata Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia mexicana var. commutata (Scribn.) Farw.
  • Vilfa frondosa (Poir.) P.Beauv.

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.