Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Liliopsida -- monocots

Order: Cyperales

Family: Poaceae -- grass

Common Name: timber oatgrass, timber danthonia

Species Code: DAIN

Origin: Native to grasslands, open forest and alpine areas, primarily in western North America. Local populations tend to be on lithosolic sites but this may be at least in part due to the dearth of native plant populations on deeper soils of the Palouse.

Rare: no

Form: grass, perennial, erect, caespitose, 5-40 cm tall, glabrous (sheaths sometimes pilose).

Duration: perennial

Habitat Type: prairie, forest

Wetland Indicator Status: FACU+

Leaves: rolled in the bud; long-hirsute at the collar and throat, blades flat to involute, 1-3 mm wide, often pilose on the upper surface but glabrous beneath, mainly basal; ligules ciliate.

Mature height: 2-16 inches

Flowers: panicle narrow, ascending, often purplish, 3-6 cm long with 1 spikelet per branch, each spikelet having 3-6 florets; glumes 13-17 mm, obscurely 3-5 nerved; lemmas 7-10 mm, bearded on callus and margins, glabrous on back; awn twisted and geniculate, up to 10 mm long.

Flower color: inconspicuous

Anthesis: June

Fruit: caryopsis, 2.3-3 mm long, disarticulation above the glumes.

Characteristics:
Reproduces by seed from both chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers.
Often on dry rocky soils.
214,000-532,000 seeds/lb (Hassell et al 1996).
373,000 seeds/lb (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).
2n=18, 36 (Hitchcock et al 1969, Baldwin et al 2004).
2n=36, 98 (Darbyshire 2002).
Polyploids are known.
Wind pollinated.
Mostly apomictic. Most anthers are aborted, even in chasmogamous flowers (Hitchcock et al 1969).
Flowers are perfect.
Fruit is a caryopsis.
Generally provides good forage for deer, elk, and livestock (Stubbendieck et al 1997). Highly valuable forage for Rocky Mountain elk in winter (Kufeld 1973).
Many grasses are hosts for the larva of the common wood nymph (Cercyonis pegala) and the common ringlet (Coenonympha californica) butterflies (Pocewicz 2005).

Sun requirement: full to partial sun

Soil moisture: xeric

Precipitation: 6-20 inches (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).

Fire: Some plants may survive fire. Recovery is from seed in 5-10 years (Tirmenstein 1999.)

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: cold moist

Seed yield: low

Seed harvest: medium difficulty

Seed cleaning: medium difficulty

Planting duration: medium

Seed shatter: medium

Seed size: medium

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Key words: grass upland native

Propagation:
3 protocols in the Native Plant Network
Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Upper Colorado Environmental Plant Center, Meeker, CO
University of Kentucky

Other Propagation Information:
Sow in fall and set containers outside (Rose et al 1998).
Seed from alpine source needed 9 months after-ripening (Kaye 1997).
Seed remains viable 5 years at 1-7^oC. Fall plant. 30 to 60 days cold moist stratification may improve germination (Link 1993).
Reproduces by seed from both chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers.

References:
Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 8/10/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Chase, Agnes. 1918. Axillary Cleistogenes in Some American Grasses. American Journal of Botany 5:254-258.

Clay, Keith. 1982. Environmental and Genetic Determinants of Cleistogamy in a Natural Population of the Grass Danthonia spicata. Evolution 36:734-741.

Clay, Keith, and Janis Antonovics. 1985. Demographic Genetics of the Grass Danthonia spicata: Success of Progeny from Chasmogamous and Cleistogamous Flowers. Evolution 39:205-210.

Darbyshire, Stephen J. 2002. Danthonia D.C. In: Barkworth, Mary, Kathleen M. Capels, Laurel Anderton, Sandy Long, and Michael B. Piep (eds.). 2002. Manual of Grasses for North America. Utah State University Herbarium. Logan, Utah. Online at http://herbarium.usu.edu/GrassManual/ Accessed 8/10/09

de Wet, J.M.J. 1954. The Genus Danthonia in Grass Phylogeny. American Journal of Botany 41:204-211.

Dobrenz, A.K. and A.A. Beetle. 1966. Cleistogenes in Danthonia. Journal of Range Management. 19:292-296.

Hassell, Wendell, W. Rocky Beavers, Steve Ouellette, and Thomas Mitchell. 1996. Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species. US Dept of Interior and USDA, NRCS. Denver, CO.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

Kaye, T.N. 1997. Seed Dormancy in High Elevation Plants: Implications for Ecology and Restoration. In: Kaye, T.N., A. Liston, R.M. Love, D. Luoma, R.J. Meinke, and M.V. Wilson [editors]. Conservation and Management of Native Plants and Fungi. Native Plant Society of Oregon, Corvallis, Oregon.

Kufeld, Roland. 1973. Foods Eaten by the Rocky Mountain Elk. Journal of Range Management 26:106-113.

Link, Ellen (ed.). 1993. Native Plant Propagation Techniques for National Parks Interim Guide. USDA, NRCS, Rose Lake Plant Materials Center. East Lansing, MI.

Pocewicz, Amy. 2005. Host Plants of Palouse Butterfly Species. 2 page handout to accompany the April 2005 presentation to the Palouse Prairie Foundation.

Rose, Robin, Caryn E.C. Chachulski, and Diane L. Haase. 1998. Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR.

Stubbendieck, James, Stephan L. Hatch, and Charles H. Butterfield. 1997. North American Range Plants. 5th edition. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. 501 pp.

Tirmenstein, D. 1999. Danthonia intermedia. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2008, March 10].

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species account from the Fire Effects Information System
Species description from Grass Manual on the Web