Flora of North America species comparison

Cortaderia jubata is found on the west coast of the coterminus United States, growing in disturbed, open ground such as brushy slopes, eroded banks and cliffs, road cuts, cut-over timber areas, and sand dunes. It is native to mountainous areas of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. It was grown in the past as an ornamental because of its attractive panicles, but is now a serious weed in California, reproducing apomictically and invading many open habitats. It was mistakenly called C. rudiuscula Stapf by Hitchcock (1951). The florets of C. rudiuscula differ from those of C. jubata in being longer and narrower, having shorter, less hairy calluses, and in having no hairs that extend beyond the top of the palea. C. rudiuscula is not known from North America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

See subfamily description.

The Danthonieae, the only tribe in the Danthonioideae, include approximately 13 genera and 290 species, most of which grow in mesic to xeric, open habitats such as grasslands, heaths, and open woods. It is most abundant in the Southern Hemisphere, with only Danthonia being native in the Northern Hemisphere.

Two of the genera recognized here, Karroochloa and Rytidosperma, are frequently included in Danthonia, from which they can be distinguished by the tufts of hairs on their lemmas. It is much more difficult to identify a character, or combination of characters, that will consistently distinguish them from each other. Glume length works in this Flora because of the species involved, but it is not generally reliable.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)