North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Danthonia spicata

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

moonshine grass, poverty oat-grass

Synonym(s): Danthonia spicata var. longipila, Danthonia spicata var. pinetorum, Danthonia thermalis

Image ID: 13967
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: DASP2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Danthonia spicata
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2020-01-01

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: DANTH
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Danthonia
GENUS AUTHORITY: DC.
GENUS COMMON: Oatgrass
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 20 species, of North America, Europe, and the Americas, but the generic limits are unclear.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Darbyshire in FNA (2003a).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: POACEA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Poaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: (R. Brown) Barnhart 1895 or GRAMINEAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Grass Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 771 genera and 12,074 species, herbs (and some shrubs and trees), cosmopolitan. Tribal classification largely follows FNA (2003a, 2007a), with some changes based on subsequent research, as for instance in the Chloridoideae (Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson 2010a).
FAMILY REFERENCE: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a, 2007a)=FNA; Hitchcock and Chase (1950)=HC; Blomquist (1948); Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson (2010a, 2010b). Key to genera adapted in large part from FNA.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT:

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Grass/Grasslike

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: May-Aug

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
					x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
654	SOS	2016-07-12	Faucette	View
907	SOS	2017-05-29	Dakar	View
1986	NPMD	2020-06-10	Kunz	View
1987	NPMD	2020-06-02	Kunz	View
2012	NPMD	2020-06-09	Adams	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
4207	1992-0363			View
4927	1995-0045			View
5099	1995-0218			View
5751	1995-0877			View
6056	1995-1187			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
6535	4207	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7346	4927	202	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7521	5099	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
8265	5751	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8706	6056	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
13028	0	15	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13073	0	25	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: DASP2
USDA Common Name: Poverty Oatgrass
Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), GL (N), SPM (N)
Distribution: USA (AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY), CAN (AB, BC, LB, MB, NB, NF, NS, NT, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT), DEN
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Graminoid

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Danthonia spicata
COMMON NAME: Poverty Oat-grass, Moonshine Grass
SYNONYMY: [= C, FNA, G, HC, K, Pa, RAB, S, Tn, Va, W, WH3, WV; > D. spicata var. longipila Scribner & Merrill - F; > D. spicata var. spicata - F; > D. allenii Austin - F]
PHENOLOGY: May-Aug.
HABITAT: Dry woodlands, rock outcrops, shale barrens.
COMMENTS: NL (Newfoundland) and BC south to FL and NM.
RANGE MAP: Danthonia spicata.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Poaceae (R. Brown) Barnhart 1895 or GRAMINEAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Grass Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 771 genera and 12,074 species, herbs (and some shrubs and trees), cosmopolitan. Tribal classification largely follows FNA (2003a, 2007a), with some changes based on subsequent research, as for instance in the Chloridoideae (Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson 2010a).
REFERENCE: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a, 2007a)=FNA; Hitchcock and Chase (1950)=HC; Blomquist (1948); Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson (2010a, 2010b). Key to genera adapted in large part from FNA.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Danthonia DC. (Oatgrass)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 20 species, of North America, Europe, and the Americas, but the generic limits are unclear.
REFERENCE: Darbyshire in FNA (2003a).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Danthonia spicata in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Danthonia spicata in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Danthonia spicata in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Danthonia spicata in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Danthonia spicata in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Danthonia spicata

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 13967 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 13967 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 13966 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 0 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)