''Danthonia compressa'' is a species of

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

known by the common names mountain oatgrass, flattened oatgrass, and slender oatgrass.

Distribution

This

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennia ...

is native to eastern North America, where it can be found in

eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

and the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

. In the southern part of its range it is restricted to the high

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

s of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

.Carey, Jennifer H. 1994
''Danthonia compressa''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.

Description

''Danthonia compressa'' is a perennial bunchgrass with thin, compressed stems reaching up to about 80 centimeters in length, sometimes lying decumbent. Most of the leaves are located at the bases of the stems. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

of up to 17 spikelets, with two or three per branch. The spikelet has a short, bent awn. The grass reproduces by seed and by sprouting new stems from buds on the stem bases.''Danthonia compressa''.
Grass Manual Treatment.

Ecology

This bunchgrass grows in

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

and

hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

forests, woods, and meadows. It is a common grass on grassy balds in the southern Appalachians, where it occurs with redtop (''Agrostis gigantea''), timothy (''Phleum pratense''), Canada bluegrass (''Poa compressa''),

Kentucky bluegrass ''Poa pratensis'', commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass (or blue grass), smooth meadow-grass, or common meadow-grass, is a perennial species of grass native to practically all of Europe, North Asia and the mountains of Algeria, Morocco, and Tuni ...

(''P. pratensis''),

red fescue ''Festuca rubra'' is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue, creeping red fescue or the rush-leaf fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to w ...

(''Festuca rubra''), five-fingers (''Potentilla canadensis''), and sheep sorrel (''Rumex acetosella''). It is a dominant species in the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and form part of the Blue Ridg ...

. It sometimes grows as a weed in crop fields.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Danthonia compressa'' (flattened oatgrass)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5221220 compressa Bunchgrasses of North America Grasses of Canada Grasses of the United States Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America)