Mat muhly is usually a low, dull-green, perennial grass growing 

 in scattered, dense carpetlike or matlike patches. The specific name 

 squarrosa refers to the squarrose (i. e., crowded, rigid, and somewhat 

 spreading) leaves. It occurs in all of the 11 far-western range States. 

 This species is widely known as dwarf muhly but the name mat 

 muhly is preferable, especially in view of the Standardized Plant 

 Names rule to* restrict the word "dwarf" to horticultural varieties 

 or forms dwarfed by plant breeders. Through the central Rockies 

 and southward mat muhly is typically a small grass growing in dry 

 meadows, parks, and open flats in the ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, 

 and spruce-fir belts, occasionally extending down into the sagebrush 

 flats. Needlegrasses (Stipa spp.), bluegrasses (Poa spp.), mountain 

 muhly (Mibhlenbergia montana), western yarrow (Achillea lanu- 

 l&sa) , pussytoes (Antennaria spp.), and cinquefoils (Potentilla spp.) 

 are common associates. In Montana and the Northwest ic usually 

 grows much more luxuriantly and occurs from the grass plains up to 

 the high meadows and grasslands at elevations up to 10,000 feet or 

 somewhat higher, associated with other grasses, sedges, and weeds. 

 Although it occasionally grows on coarse rocky soils, it is usually 

 restricted to the better sandy, gravelly, or clay loams. It also occurs 

 to some extent on alkaline soils. 



Mat muhly is usually found in scattered patches and is seldom 

 sufficiently abundant in any one locality to be of great importance. 

 Mat muhly withstands heavy grazing well because of its sod-forming 

 habit. Ordinarily, the plant is rather stemmy in its southern range 

 and produces only a small amount of foliage which, while young, is 

 eaten readily by livestock but becomes less palatable at maturity. 

 It is rated as good to very good forage in its northern range for 

 cattle and horses and fairly good for sheep. On the Northern Plains 

 it cures well on the ground and is grazed freely by all classes of live- 

 stock, especially during winter, 



In Colorado mat muhly is sometimes abundant on heavily grazed 

 bottomlands where gully erosion has lowered the water table and 

 impaired soil fertility to such an extent that the sites have become 

 unfavorable for the bluegrasses and other grasses which formerly 

 occupied those areas. In such cases, mat muhly is a useful soil 

 binder, although inferior to the previous cover. The usual flowering 

 period of mat muhly is July and August and the seeds are dissemi- 

 nated mainly in August and September. 



Mat muhly has fine creeping rootstocks and many inrolled, basal 

 and stem leaves one-half to 2^ inches long. The numerous stems 

 are wiry, commonly bent at the joints (especially the basal joints) 

 and are usually 3 to 8 inches long, although sometimes as long as 

 16 or rarely 24 inches. The panicle is narrow and about 2 to 4 

 inches long sometimes shorter, with very few flowers. 



