Danthonia californica Bol.
California oatgrass
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
California oatgrass
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems disarticulating at the nodes (10) 30-130 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths smooth or soft-hairy, the upper ones usually smooth or unevenly soft-hairy, the hairs 1-2 mm long; blades (1) 2-5 (6) mm wide, flat to in-rolled, smooth to soft-hairy; ligules less than 1 mm long, fringed with fine hairs.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a raceme of (2) 3 to 6 (10) slightly to broadly spreading spikelets, the branches longer than the spikelets; spikelets (10) 14-26 (30) mm long; lemmas 5-10 mm long, hairy along the margins, rarely smooth, sometimes sparsely hairy over the back, the apical teeth stiff-awned, (2) 4-6 (7) mm long, also awned from the back, these awns abruptly bent, (7) 8-12 mm long, the calluses usually longer than wide, with stiff hairs laterally; anthers to 4 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Blooming Period:
Early Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Spring
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Danthonia californica
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
857 | 50 | 2390 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
29 | 0 | 210 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
177 | 19 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
155 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BG(1), CDF(9), CWH(10), ESSF(7), IDF(14), MS(3), PP(1), SBPS(5), SBS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to dry grasslands, meadows, open woods, shorelines and rocky bluffs in lowland and montane zones; common in SW BC, rare in SC BC; E SC SK and S to SD, NM, AZ, and CA; Chile.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Danthonia americana Scribn.
Danthonia californica var. americana (Scribn.) Hitchc.
Danthonia californica var. californica Bol.
Danthonia californica var. palousensis H. St. John
Danthonia californica var. piperi H. St. John
Danthonia macounii