Slimstem Muhly

Muhlenbergia filiculmis Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1 : 267. 1893.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, filiform, glabrous, 10-20 cm. tall, the leaves in a short basal cluster; sheaths glabrous, the lower pale, becoming loose and more or less flattened, strongly and closely nerved; ligule prominent, pale, acute, 3-4 mm. long; blades involute, slender, often curved, firm, scabrous, sharp-pointed, 2-5 cm. long, rarely as much as 10 cm.; panicles narrow, erect, pale, terminating the culms, 1-5 cm. long, rarely longer, the somewhat distant branches appressed, the axis glabrous or nearly so, the branches and short pedicels (the lateral 0.5 mm. long or less) minutely scaberulous; glumes broad, the first abruptly awn-tipped, the body about I mm. long, the second 3-nerved, a little longer than the first, sharply 3-toothed, rarely entire or erose only; lemma lanceolate-terete, pubescent on the lower half, tapering to an awned tip, the body 2.5-3 mm. long.
Type locality: Green Mountain Falls, Colorado (Sheldon 321).
Distribution: Open sandy or rocky soil. 2000-3000 meters altitude, Wyoming. Colorado, and New Mexico.