Burke: Danthonia californica vs. Danthonia unispicata

	Danthonia californica	Danthonia unispicata
	California oatgrass	few-flower oatgrass, one-spike oatgrass
Habit	Tufted perennial, the culms hollow, 3-8 dm. tall.	Tufted perennial, the culms hollow, 1-3 dm. tall, the plants usually strongly hairy throughout.
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.	Sheaths open, the hairs at the throat 3-4 mm. long; ligule 0.5-1 mm. long; blades usually involute, 1-3 mm. broad.
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.	Panicle usually reduced to a single spikelet, sometimes with 2 or 3; glumes 5-nerved, the first 15-23 mm. long, the second slightly shorter; lemmas 9-12 mm. long, glabrous on the back and bearded on the margins, bifid, the teeth 1-2 mm. long; awn attached just below the lobes of the lemma 7-8 mm. long; paleas broad, shorter than the lemmas; callus slightly bearded.

	Danthonia californica	Danthonia unispicata
Flowering time	June-July	June-July
Habitat	Open, grassy meadows to rocky ridges, from coastal prairies to mid-elevations in the mountains, often with ponderosa pine.	Dry to occasionally moist prairies, foothills, and open parks and ridges in mountain forests.
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]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the northern Rocky Mountains and northern Great Plains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	D. decumbens, D. intermedia, D. spicata, D. unispicata	D. californica, D. decumbens, D. intermedia, D. spicata
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	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 unispicata

California oatgrass

few-flower oatgrass, one-spike oatgrass

Habit

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

Tufted perennial, the culms hollow, 1-3 dm. tall, the plants usually strongly hairy throughout.

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.

Sheaths open, the hairs at the throat 3-4 mm. long;

ligule 0.5-1 mm. long;

blades usually involute, 1-3 mm. broad.

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.

Panicle usually reduced to a single spikelet, sometimes with 2 or 3;

glumes 5-nerved, the first 15-23 mm. long, the second slightly shorter;

lemmas 9-12 mm. long, glabrous on the back and bearded on the margins, bifid, the teeth 1-2 mm. long; awn attached just below the lobes of the lemma 7-8 mm. long;

paleas broad, shorter than the lemmas;

callus slightly bearded.