Plant in full sun to part shade and irrigate infrequently. Hardy to at least 0° F. This is a very interesting grass that creates a dense groundcover or sprawls over and around other plants with the open panicles of flowers catching light in a very attractive manner. We like it for its ornamental qualities, but it is also a valuable grass for habitat restoration and revegetation projects in disturbed habitat in the Southwest US.

Muhlenbergia asperifolia is native to moist meadows, sandy washes, canyon bottoms, grassy slopes, rocky and sandy slopes and around seeps and hot springs from 180 to 10,000 feet in elevation in western North America from Canada south into Mexico. The German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (1739-1810) named the genus for clergyman and botanist Gotthilf Heinrich (Henry) Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815) who was American born but returned to his ancestral Germany for schooling and later returned to America. The specific epithet is from the two Latin words 'asper', meaning "rough" and 'folia', meaning "leaf" in reference to the rough texture of this plant's leaves. It is this texture that also gives it the alternative common name Scratchgrass. We first encountered this grass while driving down Titus Canyon in Death Valley with the "Grassman" John Greenlee - it intrigued us then as it still does today. 

The information displayed on this page about Muhlenbergia asperifolia is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.