Danthonia spicata (L.) P. Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult.

Poverty Grass

Danthonia_spicata_plant.jpg
STATS

Native
CC = 3
CW = 5
MOC = 67

© DETenaglia

Family - Poaceae/Arundineae

Stems - No info. yet.

Danthonia_spicata_node.jpg Node.

© DETenaglia

Leaves - No info. yet.

Danthonia_spicata_leaf_base.jpg Leaf sheath.

© DETenaglia

Inflorescence - No info. yet.

Danthonia_spicata_inflorescence.jpg

© DETenaglia

Danthonia_spicata_inflorescence2.jpg

© DETenaglia

Flowers - No info. yet.

Danthonia_spicata_spikelet.jpg Spikelet close-up.

© DETenaglia

Flowering - July - September.

Habitat - Dry upland woods and forests, upland prairies, glades, tops of bluffs, old fields, eroded pastures, roadsides, dry disturbed areas. Typically on acid substrates.

Origin - Native to U.S.

Other info. - This species of grass can be found throughout much of Missouri but is apparently absent in the northwest corner of the state. The plant is easy to identify because of the curly dried leaves at its base. Even very young plants have this characteristic. This is an extremely common grass of the Ozarks where it can be found growing on dry, chert slopes as well as in cedar woodlands and in the crevices of rocks. In old fields, the plant can get big, "fluffy" bases around 20-30cm in diameter.

Photographs taken off Hwy 76, Reynolds County, MO., 5-23-03, and at Whetsone Conservation Area, Callaway, County, MO., 3-18-04.