Burke: Danthonia californica

	Danthonia californica
	California oatgrass
Habit	Tufted perennial, the culms hollow, 3-8 dm. tall.
Leaves	Sheaths open, glabrous to hairy, usually with long hairs at the throat; ligules a fringe of hairs 1-2 mm. long; blades flat or slightly involute, glabrous or with soft hairs.
Flowers	Inflorescence a small, open panicle; spikelets 2-5, several-flowered, at least 1 cm. long; glumes 14-18 mm. long, the first 3-nerved, the second 5-nerved; lemmas up to 14 mm. long, strongly bifid, the teeth awn-like, up to 4 mm. long, glabrous on the back, with marginal hairs, the callus short-bearded; awn attached just below the lobes of the lemma, flattened and twisted; paleas broad, shorter than the lemmas.

	Danthonia californica
Flowering time	June-July
Habitat	Open, grassy meadows to rocky ridges, from coastal prairies to mid-elevations in the mountains, often with ponderosa pine.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	D. decumbens, D. intermedia, D. spicata, D. unispicata
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Danthonia californica

California oatgrass

Habit

Tufted perennial, the culms hollow, 3-8 dm. tall.

Leaves

Sheaths open, glabrous to hairy, usually with long hairs at the throat;

ligules a fringe of hairs 1-2 mm. long;

blades flat or slightly involute, glabrous or with soft hairs.

Flowers

Inflorescence a small, open panicle;

spikelets 2-5, several-flowered, at least 1 cm. long;

glumes 14-18 mm. long, the first 3-nerved, the second 5-nerved;

lemmas up to 14 mm. long, strongly bifid, the teeth awn-like, up to 4 mm. long, glabrous on the back, with marginal hairs, the callus short-bearded; awn attached just below the lobes of the lemma, flattened and twisted;

paleas broad, shorter than the lemmas.