Danthonia spicata (L.) Roem. & Schult.

Danthonia spicata (L.) Beauv.; R. & S. Syst. Veg. 2: 690. 1817
Avena spicala L. Sp. PI. 80. 1753.
Avena glumosa Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 72. 1803. (Type from "Pennsylvania; Carolina.") Danthonia glumosa Beauv. Agrost. 92, 153, 160. 1812. (Based on Avena glumosa Michx.) Triodia glumosa Beauv. Agrost. Atlas 12. pi. 18. f. 7. 1812. Evidently an error for Danthonia
glumosa Beauv. Merathrepta spicata Raf.; B. D. Jackson, Ind. Kew. 2: 211, as synonym of Danthonia spicala. 1894. Danthonia spicata var. I'illosa Peck, Ann. Rep. N. Y. State Mus. 47: 168. 1894. (Type from New
York.) Da«(/ioKios/)ii:a(a pine/orum Piper, Erythea 7: 103. 1899. (Type from Mason County, Washington,
Piper 943.) Danthonia thermale Scribn. Circ. U. S. Dep. Agr. Agrost. 30: 5. 1901. (Type from Yellowstone
Park. Wyo., A. Nelson if E. Nelson 6140.) Danthonia spicata longipila Scribn. & Merr. Circ. U. S. Dep. Agr. Agrost. 30: 7. 1901. (Type from
Benton Co., Ark., Plank 3S.) Merathrepta pinetorum Piper, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 11: 122. 1906. (Based on Danthonia spicala
pinetorum Piper.) Merathrepta thermale A. Heller, Muhlenbergia 5: 120. 1909. (Based on Danthonia thermale
Scribn.) Merathrepta thermale var. pinetorum Piper; Fedde & Schuster, Bot. Jahresb. 37: 128. 1911 (erroneously ascribed to Heller, Muhlenbergia 5: 120. 1909). Penlameris spicata Nelson & Macbr. Bot. Gaz. 56: 470. 1913. (Based on Avena spicala L.) Pentameris thermale Nelson & Macbr. Bot. Gaz. 56: 470. 1913. (Based on Danthonia thermale
Scribn.) Danthonia pinetorum Piper; Piper & Beattie, Fl. N. W. Coast 46. 1915. (Based on D. spicala
pinetorum Piper.)
Culms terete, densely tufted, 20-70 cm. (mostly not more than 50 cm.) tall, slender, terete; leaves numerous in a basal cluster, the blades usually curled or flexuous; sheaths glabrous or sparsely pilose, with a tuft of long hairs in the throat ; blades usually not more than 1 2 cm. long, filiform to 2 mm. wide, occasionally a few blades 15-20 cm. long, subinvolute or in damp weather flat, glabrous or sparsely pilose; panicle 2-5 cm. long, rarely longer, the stiff short branches bearing each a single spikelet, or the lower longer with 2 (rarely 3 or 4) spikelets, usually erect after anthesis; glumes 10-12 mm. long (rarely longer); lemmas 4-5 mm. long, sparsely villous except the 2-toothed summit, the teeth acuminate to subsetaceous; terminal segment of the awn about 5 mm. long; palea broad, flat, obtuse, ciliolate, reaching to the base of the awn.
Type locality: Pennsylvania.
DisTRrBUTioN: Dry and sterile or rocky soil, Newfoundland to British Columbia, and southward to Florida, eastern Texas, and eastern Kansas, and in the mountains to New Mexico and Oregon.