Deschampsia flexuosa
Deschampsia danthonioides
Appalachian hairgrass, common hairgrass, crinkled hairgrass, deschampsie flexueuse, wavy hair-grass
annual hair grass
30-80 cm, erect or geniculate at the base, usually with 2 nodes.
10-40(70) cm, erect.
mostly basal, sometimes forming a basal tuft;
sheaths smooth, glabrous;
ligules 1.5-3.6 mm, rounded to acute;
blades 12-25 cm long, strongly rolled, 0.3-0.5 mm in diameter, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabridulous, glabrous or hairy, often scabridulous or hairy proximally and essentially smooth and glabrous distally, adaxial surfaces scabrous, flag leaf blades 5-8 cm.
not forming a basal tuft;
ligules (0.5)2-3(4.7) mm, acute to acuminate, entire;
blades 0.3-1.5 mm wide, involute or flat.
5-15 cm long, (2)4-12 cm wide, narrow to open, often nodding;
branches ascending to spreading, flexuous, smooth or scabridulous.
5-15(25) cm long, 2-8 cm wide, contracted to open, erect;
branches with the spikelets confined to the distal portion.
4-7 mm, ovate or U-shaped.
4-9 mm, bisexual, narrowly V-shaped, usually pale green.
exceeded by or subequal to the adjacent florets, 1-veined, acute;
lower glumes 2.7-4.5 mm;
upper glumes 3.5-5 mm;
callus hairs to 1 mm;
lemmas 3.3-5 mm, scabridulous or puberulent, hairs to 0.1 mm, apices acute, erose to 4-toothed, awns 3.7-7 mm, attached near the base of the lemma, strongly geniculate, geniculation below the lemma apices, distal segment 2.5-4.5 mm, pale;
anthers 2-3 mm.
exceeding the distal florets, glabrous to scabridulous, 3-veined;
lower glumes 4-9 mm;
upper glumes 3.5-8.5 mm;
callus hairs 0.4-1.6 mm;
lemmas 1.5-3 mm, smooth, shiny, glabrous, pale green or purplish, apices blunt, erose to 4-toothed, ciliate, awns 4-9 mm, attached from near the base to about the middle of the lemmas, strongly geniculate, geniculation above the lemma apices, distal segment 1.5-5 mm;
anthers 0.3-0.5 mm.
= 14, 26, 28, 32, 42.
= 26.
Deschampsia flexuosa
Deschampsia danthonioides
Deschampsia flexuosa grows on dry, often rocky slopes, and in woods and thickets, often in disturbed sites. In the Flora region, it is primarily eastern in distribution, with records from west of the Great Lakes and Appalachians probably being introductions. It is also known from Mexico, Central America, South America, Borneo, the Philippines, and New Zealand.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Deschampsia danthonioides grows in temperate and cool-temperate regions, usually in open, wet to dry habitats and often in disturbed ground. Its primary range extends from southern British Columbia, through Washington and Idaho, to Baja California, Mexico. It also grows, as a disjunct, in Chile and Argentina.
Records from the Yukon Territory date from the late 1800s and early 1900s; it has not been seen since in the region. Records from east of the primary region are also probably introductions; it is not known whether the species has persisted at these locations.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
MD Biodiversity
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