Danthonia spicata

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2025, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 18, Willdenowia 55 (1), pp. 107-144 : 123

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

A Au(A): Austria: Burgenland, Lockenhaus, c. 1 km ENE of Hochstrass, 47°25'50"N, 16°25'10.4"E, 410 m, edge of widened and newly gravelled forest road, numerous, 5 Jun 2022, Raabe obs.; ibid., 7 Jun 2022, Raabe, Gilli & Reischütz (MSTR, WU); ibid., 13 Jun 2022, Raabe & Király obs.; ibid., 4 Jun 2023, Raabe obs.; ibid., Lockenhaus, c. 2 km E Hochstrass, 47°25'36.2"N, 16°25'51.8"E, 425 m, forest road embankment and grassy forest aisle, numerous, 7 Jun 2022, Raabe, Gilli & Reischütz obs.; ibid., NW of place called Rotes Kreuz, above Bindergraben, forest roadsides, numerous, 13 Jun 2022, Raabe (B 10 1201961, MSTR). – This is the first evidence of an adventitious occurrence of this species in Austria. The plants at Hochstrass were initially referred to as Danthonia alpina Vest , but there were discrepancies in some morphological characters. For example, unlike D. alpina , the lower leaf sheaths are clearly hairy and last year’s dead basal leaves are bent back or twisted. Danthonia spicata (poverty oatgrass) is native and widespread from subarctic North America to C and E Mexico ( Darbyshire 2003; Barkworth & al. 2007). Most sources cite D. spicata as a common, secondary successor and valuable erosion controller of firedisturbed areas and clearcuts in its native area (Darbyshire & Cayouette 1989; Covington 2000); seeds of D. spicata are commercially available in North America. Beyond its native range, the species is reported as locally naturalized in Japan ( Ibaragi 2020) and the Azores ( Schäfer 2021). In continental Europe, D. spicata has so far been found only in the vicinity of Lauchhammer, S Brandenburg, Germany (first in 2014, see Landeck 2021, incl. identification key); according to Landeck (2021), the occurrences in Brandenburg are probably due to seeding of non-certified grass provenances and are meanwhile estimated to be on the verge of naturalization ( Hand & al. 2024). The same may apply to the Austrian populations. U. Raabe & Ch. Gilli