Danthonia
decumbens is an uncommon introduced perennial grass that grows
on damp roadsides. Several other genera were previously included
in Danthonia. The distinctive features of this group is that
the have ciliate ligules, the base of the fruit usually has
a callus of stiff hairs (often spreading, and becoming conspicuous
at the time of fruiting), and the body of the fruit often has tufts
of hairs. Danthonia
(in its strict sense) doesn't have awns, whereas the other genera
do. Notodanthonia lack the tuft or row of hairs immediately
above the base of the fruit. Rytidosperma species are mostly
alpine species with distinctly small florets (lemmas only about 2mm
long, with lobes less than 5mm long).
Austrodanthonia is a large
genus of native species. |