Danthonia spicata Poverty Oatgrass

Danthonia spicata, commonly known as poverty oatgrass or poverty grass, is a native, cool‑season perennial bunchgrass widespread across North America, including Canada, the U.S., and northern Mexico. It features dense basal tufts of narrow fibrous leaves that often twist or curl as they dry, with flowering stems up to 2 ft tall bearing narrow panicles of spikelets with twisted hairy awns. It thrives on poor, dry, acidic, thin or rocky soils often in open woodlands, glades, roadsides, and fire‑disturbed sites, and is an early successional colonizer with seeds that may persist in the soil for decades before germinating after disturbance. While not widely cultivated, it shows promise as a low‑maintenance groundcover or native lawn alternative in low‑fertility, dry sites and provides erosion control and habitat value for insects such as skipper butterflies.