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| Category: Grass |
| Family: Poaceae (Gramineae) (Grasses) |
| Origin: Southwest (U.S.) (North America) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Purple |
| Bloomtime: Fall |
| Synonyms: [Muhlenbergia gooddingii] |
| Height: 2-3 feet |
| Width: 2-3 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Deer Tolerant: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F |
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Muhlenbergia emersleyi (Bull Grass) - An evergreen clumping grass with blue-green foliage to about 2-3 feet tall and wide, with a smaller and more dense habit than Deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) and with slightly wider leaves that arch over gracefully. In early summer on into fall appear the loose spikes with dark purple flowers rising above the foliage – this is usually one of the first muhlys to flower for us in the garden. Plant in full sun or part shade in well-drained soil. Very drought tolerant. It is hardy to 0° F. (USDA Zone 7). We have successfully cut this plant back hard in April to freshen up the clump and it rebounds rapidly to bloom in early June. This is one of the most ornamental of the muhly grasses with soft foliage and open panicles of purplish flowers. It is native to rocky slopes in oak woodlands from Nevada and Arizona east to Texas and south well into Mexico as far as Oaxaca. The German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (1739-1810) named the genus for Gotthilf Heinrich (Henry) Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815) who was American born but returned to his ancestral Germany for schooling and later returned to America. He was an ordained Lutheran minister but devoted his free time to the study of the botany. The specific epithet honors John Dare Emersley, an American miner, author and botanical collector who collected throughout the southwestern U.S. in the late 19th century and corresponded with . It is also commonly called Gooding's muhly (Muhlenbergia gooddingii was synonymized with this species) and in Spanish is known as Zacate de Toro which translates to Bull Grass.
The information about Muhlenbergia emersleyi displayed on this page is based on research conducted in our nursery library and from online sources we consider reliable. We will also relate those observations made of this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and in other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has additional information, particularly when they share cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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