{"assessment":{"band":"Good","factor_identity":{"basis":"source accepted identity; genus-level evidence","growth_habit_source":"USDA PLANTS","name_used":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata"},"factor_scopes":{"bees":"Southeastern North America","birds":"North America","caterpillars":"Host genera of native Lepidoptera with established Virginia range; association and range overlap, not confirmed local feeding.","specialists":"Eastern North America","structure":"USDA species growth habit where matched; otherwise sourced atlas growth habit"},"factors":{"applied_insect_credit":0,"baseline_score":27,"composite":0.512,"insect_support":{"credit":0,"groups":{"ants":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Ants","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"beetles":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Beetles","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"flies":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Flies","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"moths_butterflies":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Adult butterflies / moths","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"other_hymenoptera":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Other wasps","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"other_insects":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Other insects","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"}},"interpretation":"One provisional point per additional documented insect group, capped at five. Flower visits are a resource-use proxy, not confirmed feeding or pollination. Missing evidence is unknown. Study volume and repeated records earn no extra credit.","maximum_credit":5,"version":"insect-support-1"},"pct":{"bees":0.24379652605459057,"birds":0.6643920595533499,"caterpillars":0.6234491315136477,"specialists":0.4323821339950372},"rank_pct":0.255,"raw":{"bees":0,"birds":1,"caterpillars":4,"genus_used":null,"specialists":0,"structure":null}},"fit_score":null,"native_basis":"native_supported","rarity_adjustment":0,"rarity_policy":"Conservation status is displayed separately and never changes ecological scores, including when unranked.","reason":"Calculated with the shared rules using Virginia host-range and shared ecological evidence.","reference":"NC native reference cohort, method 0.6.4; not a Virginia percentile","score":27,"scoring_inputs":{"harm_penalty":0,"invasive":false,"invasive_rank":null,"native":true,"state_rank":"S2"},"source_ids":["lep_va","globi","bigbee","avian","usdahabit","robertson","antseed"],"status":"scored_provisional","version":"shared-0.6.5"},"condition_evidence":{},"evidence":{"fit_score":null,"growth_habit":null,"invasive_status":{"status":"unresolved"},"native_status":{"status":"native_supported"},"occurrence":{"county_fips":["51043","51063","51071","51135","51155","51161","51167","51169","51197"],"meaning":"Recorded occurrence; not a county native-range assertion"},"quercus_score":null,"regional":{"county_fips":["51043","51063","51071","51135","51155","51161","51167","51169","51197"],"growth_habit":null,"growth_habit_source":null,"invasive":null,"invasive_evidence":[],"invasive_rank":null,"native":true,"native_basis":"state_source","native_decided_by":"va_heritage","native_evidence":[{"claim":"native","flag":"N","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"VA","source":"va_atlas","url":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614"},{"basis":"exact taxon in the state heritage program list of native plants","claim":"native","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"VA","source":"va_heritage","srank":"S2","url":"https://dcr.am.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf"},{"basis":"native range text names Virginia","claim":"native","scope":"VA","source":"floraquest_south_central","text":"Michigan, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, south to nw. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico; scattered eastward as disjuncts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Virginia occurrences are on dolomite and limestone palisade cliffs along the Clinch, New, ","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"native range text in the regional flora","claim":"native","scope":"DC-DE-IL-IN-KY-MD-NJ-NY-OH-PA-VA-WV","source":"floraquest_northern_tier","text":"Michigan, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, south to nw. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico; scattered eastward as disjuncts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Virginia occurrences are on dolomite and limestone palisade cliffs along the Clinch, New, ","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"native range text names Virginia","claim":"native","scope":"VA","source":"floraquest_northern_tier","text":"Michigan, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, south to nw. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico; scattered eastward as disjuncts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Virginia occurrences are on dolomite and limestone palisade cliffs along the Clinch, New, ","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"species account without the alien asterisk","claim":"native_distribution","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"AL-AR-DC-DE-FL-GA-KY-LA-MD-MS-NC-NJ-PA-SC-TN-VA-WV","source":"weakley_fsus","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"Native field of the Northern Tier edition; the state is in its distribution","claim":"native","record_id":2132,"scope":"DC-DE-IL-IN-KY-MD-NJ-NY-OH-PA-VA-WV","source":"floraquest_northern_tier","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"NatureServe subnational native or exotic flag for this state","claim":"native","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"VA","source":"natureserve_explorer","srank":"S2","url":"https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.151865/Muhlenbergia_cuspidata"}],"native_explanation":"Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list (government agency, state claim) gives the value.","native_provenance":{"flags":[],"source":"va_heritage","specificity":"state","tier":"government"},"native_status":"native_supported","package_native_status":"native_supported","source_ids":["va_atlas:VA:1614"],"source_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","source_refs":["gbif_specimens","natureserve_explorer","va_atlas","va_heritage"],"source_url":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614","state_rank":"S2"},"source_refs":["gbif_specimens","natureserve_explorer","va_atlas","va_heritage"],"source_url":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614","state_rank":{"value":"S2"}},"fit_inputs":{"light":null,"moisture":null,"ph":null},"fit_provenance":{"moisture":"unknown: no matched indicator"},"fit_record":{"band":"Good","condition_evidence":{},"county_fips":["21065","21079","21199","47141","51043","51063","51071","51135","51155","51161","51167","51169","51197"],"fit_inputs":{"light":null,"moisture":null,"ph":null},"fit_note":"Shared sunlight, moisture and pH calculation; county geography is an additional layer. Missing source traits remain unknown.","fit_provenance":{"moisture":"unknown: no matched indicator"},"garden_suitability":{"default_excluded":true,"flags":[{"code":"conservation_caution","default_excluded":true,"label":"Rare or protected plant","message":"Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions.","records":[{"name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","rank":"S2","source":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614","state":"VA"}],"source":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614"}],"review_status":"reviewed","suggestions_excluded":true},"invasive_rank":false,"native_eligible":true,"quercus_score":27,"state":"VA"},"garden_suitability":{"default_excluded":true,"flags":[{"code":"conservation_caution","default_excluded":true,"label":"Rare or protected plant","message":"Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions.","records":[{"name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","rank":"S2","source":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614","state":"VA"}],"source":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614"}],"review_status":"reviewed","suggestions_excluded":true},"growing_observations":{"eol_usda":{"archive_doi":"10.5281/zenodo.22129810","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","retrieved":"2026-09-30","scope":"Nationwide approximate species characteristics; tolerance categories do not specify sun hours or moisture requirements","scoring_allowed":false,"source_label":"USDA PLANTS via EOL TraitBank","source_sha256":"04bb6a5292502ddc757bb909f4151de4b9aaea042223dfb486ffe2a94a2564db","source_url":"http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MUCU3","trait_evidence":[{"citation":"The PLANTS Database, United States Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service. http://plants.usda.gov/","eol_page":"https://eol.org/pages/1115060","field":"bloom_season","method":"","source_url":"http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MUCU3","trait_id":"R133-PK288791086","trait_label":"bloom period","value":"late spring"},{"citation":"The PLANTS Database, United States Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service. http://plants.usda.gov/","eol_page":"https://eol.org/pages/1115060","field":"drought_tolerance","method":"Compares the relative tolerance of the plant to drought conditions to other species with the same growth habit from the same geographical region. Drought tolerance is defined here in the following fashion: Imagine that in an acre of land there are low areas that have heavy soil and tend to accumulate more soil moisture, and higher areas that have coarse textured soil and tend to accumulate less soil moisture. Some plant species are most frequently found growing in the higher areas with the coarse soil texture. These plant species are considered to be more drought tolerant than the species that are frequently found in the low areas with fine textured soil.","source_url":"http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MUCU3","trait_id":"R133-PK288757137","trait_label":"drought tolerance","value":"high tolerance"},{"citation":"The PLANTS Database, United States Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service. http://plants.usda.gov/","eol_page":"https://eol.org/pages/1115060","field":"moisture_use","method":"","source_url":"http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MUCU3","trait_id":"R133-PK288767484","trait_label":"moisture use","value":"low"},{"citation":"The PLANTS Database, United States Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service. http://plants.usda.gov/","eol_page":"https://eol.org/pages/1115060","field":"height_ft","method":"Expected height of plant at maturity. This is an estimate of the median mature height of all plants of a species or cultivar. Within a species mature height is quite variable, so this estimate is provided only to give a rough idea for planning purposes.","source_url":"http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MUCU3","trait_id":"R133-PK288725326","trait_label":"plant height","value":1.4},{"citation":"The PLANTS Database, United States Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service. http://plants.usda.gov/","eol_page":"https://eol.org/pages/1115060","field":"shade_tolerance","method":"","source_url":"http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MUCU3","trait_id":"R133-PK288786229","trait_label":"shade tolerance","value":"low tolerance"}],"values":{"bloom_season":"late spring","drought_tolerance":"high tolerance","height_ft":1.4,"moisture_use":"low","shade_tolerance":"low tolerance"}}},"native_synthesis":{"claims":[{"claim":"native","flag":"N","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"VA","source":"va_atlas","url":"https://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1614"},{"basis":"exact taxon in the state heritage program list of native plants","claim":"native","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"VA","source":"va_heritage","srank":"S2","url":"https://dcr.am.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf"},{"basis":"native range text names Virginia","claim":"native","scope":"VA","source":"floraquest_south_central","text":"Michigan, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, south to nw. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico; scattered eastward as disjuncts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Virginia occurrences are on dolomite and limestone palisade cliffs along the Clinch, New, ","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"native range text in the regional flora","claim":"native","scope":"DC-DE-IL-IN-KY-MD-NJ-NY-OH-PA-VA-WV","source":"floraquest_northern_tier","text":"Michigan, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, south to nw. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico; scattered eastward as disjuncts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Virginia occurrences are on dolomite and limestone palisade cliffs along the Clinch, New, ","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"native range text names Virginia","claim":"native","scope":"VA","source":"floraquest_northern_tier","text":"Michigan, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, south to nw. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico; scattered eastward as disjuncts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Virginia occurrences are on dolomite and limestone palisade cliffs along the Clinch, New, ","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"species account without the alien asterisk","claim":"native_distribution","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"AL-AR-DC-DE-FL-GA-KY-LA-MD-MS-NC-NJ-PA-SC-TN-VA-WV","source":"weakley_fsus","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"Native field of the Northern Tier edition; the state is in its distribution","claim":"native","record_id":2132,"scope":"DC-DE-IL-IN-KY-MD-NJ-NY-OH-PA-VA-WV","source":"floraquest_northern_tier","url":"https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/"},{"basis":"NatureServe subnational native or exotic flag for this state","claim":"native","matched_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","scope":"VA","source":"natureserve_explorer","srank":"S2","url":"https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.151865/Muhlenbergia_cuspidata"}],"county_native_range":"unresolved","decided_by":"va_heritage","explanation":"Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list (government agency, state claim) gives the value.","label":"Native to Virginia (state-specific source)","provenance":{"flags":[],"source":"va_heritage","specificity":"state","tier":"government"},"rule":"fact-hierarchy-2","status":"native_supported"},"source_name":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata","taxon_id":"taxon:14b84e49-5b0c-560a-9348-29815f864b45","revision":"publish:cdb975f5-333c-4482-92bd-514ef43ee9c3","photos":[{"id":"muhlenbergia-cuspidata-tn-1665-17880077","src":"/api/photos/image/eb2fcdd82d9441f7788e62b1edefcbed8fe17ebab05e81b9e14e21dc2b1f618e.jpg","view":"leaf","alt":"Muhlenbergia cuspidata — leaf photograph","width":960,"height":1280,"artist":"Matt Lavin","license":"CC BY-SA 2.0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0","source_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muhlenbergia_cuspidata.jpg","changes":"Wikimedia thumbnail; no crop or retouching","kind":"photo"}]}