Beauty and the Beast: The Alligator and the Muhly

 

Gorgeous specimens of Muhlenbergia sericea along the sides of the trail

There is no doubt that species in the genus Muhlenbergia are some of the most beautiful grasses out there, and I mostly encountered them as ornamental grasses in the Northeast USA. But they exist in plentiful varieties as native plants in Florida, a fact that astonished me when I first encountered them in Jacksonville's Atlantic Beach. 

This group of grasses are also a prominent fixture in the Nature Conservancy's Disney Preserve in Florida, and when I visited the place to hike a couple days back, they were garbed in masses of absolutely gorgeous pinkish blooms.

Juvenile alligator hiding under the beautiful M. sericea

They also seemed to provide an unusual service to the other inhabitants of the park.

Under one large specimen, a juvenile alligator had parked itself under the heavy shade (see image above), perhaps seeking protection from the gawking passersby and other hikers around it. The combination of the airy pink blooms and the primeval looking reptile was striking. 

Beautiful inflorescence of M. sericea

I typed the species to Muhlenbergia sericea, which in some circles is still grouped as a variety of M. capillaris (M. capillaris var. filipes). At the non-macro level, the inflorescence of many of the Muhlenbergia spp look similar, but a closer look at their extremely miniscule spikelets will normally allow people to differentiate between the species.

Spikelets of M. sericea

Unlike the spikelets of M. capillaris, those of  M. sericea have two very long awns (see image below). Both glumes (the outer bract-like structures enclosing the floret) are awned, with one of the glumes having a very long awn. The second long awn is from the lemma, another bract-like structure that holds the male and female reproductive organs of the floret.

Two spikelets of M. sericea, each with with two very long awns. One spikelet is showing purple anthers and the filament, as well as the fuzzy stigma. 

Seeing an alligator is not that unusual in Florida (although this was the first time I've seen one in a bit), but happening upon a gator and a grass (which is in full glorious bloom) certainly is unusual and picturesque.