Spike Muhly
Muhlenbergia glomerata
A distinctive, upright native grass of wet meadows, fens, and rocky cliffs. Features stiff, blue-green stems crowned by dense, bristly, purplish-green seed spikes in late summer. Highly adapted to cold, wet, alkaline soils, making it a specialty fen native.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Type
- grass
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 3–3 ft
- Spacing
- 1–1.5 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist, wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- April, May
- Bloom colors
- yellow
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing, rain garden
- Native states
- CT, IA, IN, MA, ME, MI, MN, NE, NH, NJ, NY, PA, VA, VT, WI
Related native plants
More Muhlenbergia species
- Deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens)
- Lindheimer's Muhly (Muhlenbergia lindheimeri)
- Seep Muhly (Muhlenbergia reverchonii)
- Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris)
- Bush Muhly (Muhlenbergia porteri)
- Plains Muhly (Muhlenbergia cuspidata)