Status: Native
Synonyms:
Munroa squarrosa (Nuttall) Torrey var. floccuosa Vasey ex Beal
Munroa squarrosa is an odd little grass that bears a superficial resemblance
to Eriastrum diffusum, which is not even a grass! Munroa squarrosa is an annual with short stolons. There
are small tufts of blades at intervals along the stolons. It likes sandy areas. The
lemmas have a short awn and three dark green nerves. There are several florets per spikelet. One oddity about this grass is that some plants have a white wooly covering (see photo below.) According to Allred, the two leading explanations for this are that the wool is the remains of egg cases of a wooly aphid or that it is due to hairlike water soluble crystals that wash off with water and are produced by the grass itself.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Munroa squarrosa, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris, & Richard Felger, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, Sept. 5, 2007
Munroa squarrosa, inflorescence, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, FR 536 behind Ft. Bayard, Sept. 22, 2008
Munroa squarrosa, awned lemma with three nerves, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, FR 536 behind Ft. Bayard, Sept. 22, 2008
Munroa squarrosa, plant with wooly coating, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, July 25, 2009
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