Pine Muhly

Muhlenbergia dubia

Hills guide picknative · Hill Country

Pine Muhly is a grass native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–3 ft tall and 1–3 ft wide. It wants full sun and very low water. Blooms white in Aug–Oct. Deer rarely browse it. Good for birds and small mammals.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Pine Muhly against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

From our guide

Village of the Hills

Fine-textured bunchgrass with thin blue-green blades and delicate upright seedheads.

Why it works here

Neater and smaller than deergrass, evergreen, and perfect for a limestone bed edge.

Watch out

Slow to fill in. Do not overwater.

The facts

6 sources

Type: Grass
Sun: Full sun (6+ hrs)
Water: Very low
Height: 1–3 ft
Spread: 1–3 ft
Bloom: Aug–Oct · white
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Recorded on dry, limestone, rocky, well drained
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Rarely browsed.
Wildlife: Supports birds and small mammals

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in this EPA Level IV ecoregion in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones Canyonlands

1 occurrence record in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.