Muhlenbergia racemosa(Michx.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.

marsh muhly

WFO wfo-0000880893 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 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 racemosa, photographed by Cecelia Alexander
fig. a Cecelia Alexander, CC0 1.0 / 2013-09-08 / obs. 12562086
Muhlenbergia racemosa, photographed by Cecelia Alexander
fig. b Cecelia Alexander, CC0 1.0 / obs. 12562087
Muhlenbergia racemosa, photographed by Cecelia Alexander
fig. c Cecelia Alexander, CC0 1.0 / obs. 12562088
Muhlenbergia racemosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. d Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 158539143
Muhlenbergia racemosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. e Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 158538927
Muhlenbergia racemosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. f Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 158538942
Muhlenbergia racemosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. g Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 158539122
Muhlenbergia racemosa, photographed by Jeff D Hansen
fig. h Jeff D Hansen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91653500

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 34 botanical countries

Regions where Muhlenbergia racemosa is native: Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Manitoba, Mexico Northeast, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Québec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaColoradoIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasMaineManitobaMexico NortheastMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew MexicoNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOklahomaOntarioOregonQuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinWyoming
Native distribution of Muhlenbergia racemosa, 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
Colorado COL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Mexico Northeast MXE
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Hampshire NWH
New Mexico NWM
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO

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 13 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 racemosa Michx.
  • Cinna racemosa (Michx.) Kunth
  • Dactylogramma cinnoides Link
  • Muhlenbergia calycina Trin.
  • Muhlenbergia glomerata var. cinnoides (Link) F.Herm.
  • Muhlenbergia glomerata var. ramosa Vasey
  • Muhlenbergia racemosa subsp. violacea Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia racemosa var. cinnoides (Link) B.Boivin
  • Muhlenbergia racemosa var. ramosa (Vasey) Beal
  • Muhlenbergia setosa var. cinnoides (Link) Fernald
  • Polypogon racemosus (Michx.) Nutt.
  • Trichochloa calycina Trin.
  • Vilfa racemosa (Michx.) 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.