Muhlenbergia sylvaticaTorr.

woodland muhly

WFO wfo-0000880964 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs 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 sylvatica, photographed by Zihao Wang
fig. a Zihao Wang, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-10-04 / obs. 100470854
Muhlenbergia sylvatica, photographed by Zihao Wang
fig. b Zihao Wang, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 100470890
Muhlenbergia sylvatica, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. c Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 92764880
Muhlenbergia sylvatica, photographed by Summit Metro Parks
fig. d Summit Metro Parks, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 30432187
Muhlenbergia sylvatica, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. e Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 92764865
Muhlenbergia sylvatica, photographed by Summit Metro Parks
fig. f Summit Metro Parks, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 30432190
Muhlenbergia sylvatica, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. g Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 92764891
Muhlenbergia sylvatica, photographed by Zihao Wang
fig. h Zihao Wang, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 100470881

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 38 botanical countries

Regions where Muhlenbergia sylvatica is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArizonaArkansasConnecticutGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Muhlenbergia sylvatica, 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
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
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 14 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 diffusa Muhl.
  • Agrostis sylvatica Torr.
  • Muhlenbergia diffusa Farw.
  • Muhlenbergia diffusa var. attenuata (Scribn.) Farw.
  • Muhlenbergia sylvatica f. attenuata (Scribn.) E.J.Palmer & Steyerm.
  • Muhlenbergia sylvatica f. sylvatica
  • Muhlenbergia sylvatica var. gracilis Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia sylvatica var. robusta Fernald
  • Muhlenbergia sylvatica var. sylvatica
  • Muhlenbergia sylvatica var. vulpina Alph.Wood
  • Muhlenbergia umbrosa Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia umbrosa f. attenuata (Scribn.) Deam
  • Muhlenbergia umbrosa subsp. attenuata Scribn.
  • Muhlenbergia viridissima Nees 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.