Muhlenbergia mexicana(L.) Trin.

Mexican MuhlyMexican muhlyWirestem Muhly

WFO wfo-0000880821 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 3 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 3 times, 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 mexicana, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. a Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-29 / obs. 160959196
Muhlenbergia mexicana, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. b Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 108357106
Muhlenbergia mexicana, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. c Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 55729618
Muhlenbergia mexicana, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. d Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 160959260
Muhlenbergia mexicana, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. e Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 55729631
Muhlenbergia mexicana, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. f Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 160959228
Muhlenbergia mexicana, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. g Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 108357140
Muhlenbergia mexicana, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. h Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 108357121

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 52 botanical countries

Regions where Muhlenbergia mexicana is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon AlabamaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaQuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingYukon DelawareRhode I.
Native distribution of Muhlenbergia mexicana, 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
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK

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 41 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 filiformis Willd.
  • Agrostis foliosa Roem. & Schult.
  • Agrostis gynostyla (Nees) Steud.
  • Agrostis lateriflora Michx.
  • Agrostis lateriflora var. filiformis Torr.
  • Agrostis mexicana L.
  • Agrostis ramosissima Sinclair
  • Cinna arundinacea Retz. ex Steud.
  • Cinna filiformis Link
  • Cinna lateriflora (Michx.) Kunth
  • Cinna mexicana (L.) P.Beauv.
  • Muhlenbergia ambigua Torr.
  • Muhlenbergia ambigua var. ambigua
  • Muhlenbergia ambigua var. filiformis (Torr.) Farw.
  • Muhlenbergia foliosa (Roem. & Schult.) Trin.
  • Muhlenbergia foliosa f. ambigua (Torr.) Wiegand
  • Muhlenbergia foliosa subsp. ambigua Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia foliosa subsp. setiglumis Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia foliosa var. ambigua (Torr.) Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia foliosa var. setiglumis (S.Watson) Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia gymnostyla Nees
  • Muhlenbergia lateriflora (Michx.) Trin.
  • Muhlenbergia mexicana f. ambigua (Torr.) Fernald
  • Muhlenbergia mexicana f. mexicana

and 17 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. 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.