Muhlenbergia expansa

Common Names

Cutover Muhly, Savanna Hairgrass, Savannah Hairgrass

Summary

Muhlenbergia expansa, commonly known as Savannah Hairgrass or Cut-over Muhly, is a perennial grass native to the Southeastern United States with a Coastal Plain distribution including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, it grows in bogs, flatwoods, and other wet sites with acidic sandy soil, including pine savannas and mesic sandhill-pocosin ecotones, and features a capillary, flexuous panicle that is fragile and tends to break up over winter; old leaf bases are fibrous and curly, and flowering occurs in summer to fall with flowering stimulated by fire. Ecologically, the species has a FACW wetland indicator status across multiple regions and is most common in the Coastal Plain, where it can be grazed by cattle and sheep; growth is controlled by fire, with flowering stimulated by fire and vegetative growth in the absence of fire. It plays an important role in the grassy component of longleaf pine savannas and is suitable for fire-managed landscapes and habitat restoration in savanna ecosystems.

Lifecycle

Perennial

Soil Type

Acidic sandy soil

Soil Drainage

Wet, poorly drained soils

Soil pH

Acidic soil

Bloom Color

Brownish

Bloom Time

Summer to Fall

Seasons of Interest

Summer and Fall