Parry's Oatgrass

Danthonia parryi vScribn. Bot. Gaz. 21: 133. 1896
Danthonia Parryi var. longifolia Scribn. Bot. Gaz. 21: 134. 1896. (Type from Twin Lakes, Colorado, Wolf 1170.) Merathrepta Parryi A. Heller, Muhlenbergia S; 120. 1909. (Based on Danthonia Parryi Scribn.)
Culms rather stout, in tough clumps, 30-60 cm. tall, somewhat enlarged at ba.sc by the numerous, over-lapping, firm, persistent sheaths; sheaths glabrous, somewhat pilose at the throat, with a glabrous or pubescent line or ridge on the collar, the lower blades falling from the sheaths; blades ercct-flexuous, mostly 15-25 cm. long, narrow or filliform, flat or involute, glabrous; panicle 3-7 cm. long, usually with 3-8 spikelets, the branches more or less pubescent, ascending or appressed, the lowermost 1-2 cm. long, with 1 or 2 spikelets; glumes 20-22 mm. long, rarely less; lemmas sparsely to densely pilose on the back and margin, strongly pilose on the sides of the callus, 12-15 mm. long including the abruptly awned teeth; terminal segment of the dorsal awn 8-12 mm. long; palea narrowed aljove, 2-toolhcd, nearly as long as the lemma. Type locality: Colorado {Parry).
Distribution: Open grassland, open woods, and rocky slopes in the mountains, mostly below timber line, from Alberta to New Mexico.

Annuals, Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades very narrow or filiform, less than 2 mm wide, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence simple spikes, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence single raceme, fascicle or spike, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet 3-10 mm wide, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets with 8-40 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Infl orescence disarticulating between nodes or joints of rachis, rachis fragmenting, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma 8-15 nerved, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 3 awns, Lemma awn less than 1 cm long, Lemma awn 1-2 cm long, Lemma awned from tip, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.