Muhlenbergia cuspidata is a species of grass known by the common name plains muhly.

The stems have thick, knotty, scaly bases and grow up to about 60 centimeters tall.

The inflorescence is a panicle that is very narrow and spikelike, with an uneven row of short branches.

[2] This grass is most common in the northern Great Plains where it grows in shortgrass prairie habitat.

It is a dominant species on sloping land and it may be codominant with blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) and western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii).