Bamboo Muhly

Muhlenbergia dumosa is an exciting grass from southern Arizona and northern Mexico that looks like a dainty bamboo with its 4-6 feet tall, light, airy stems of bright-green foliage. In late fall and winter, the foliage tips become decorated with tiny flowers that give the plant a pale pinkish-green cast. Although rhizomatous, it spreads slowly and becomes easily controlled. Plant in full sun and water occasionally – this is a drought-tolerant grass, though it looks lusher with an occasional drink.

Muhlenbergia dumosa grows naturally on rocky slopes, canyon ledges, and cliffs in oak-pine and thorn-scrub forests and open prairie from 2,000 to 6,000 feet in elevations in southern Arizona to southern Mexico from southern Baja California, Sonora to Jalisco, and the Chihuahuan Desert region.