Index / Search / Danthonia californica

§1 Plant

Danthonia californica Bol.

vernacular California oatgrass — species · Poaceae


USDA
DACA3
GBIF
2703262
Rank
species
California oatgrass (Danthonia californica)
Platephotograph · Belinda LoCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Danthonia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 84 counties across 11 states/territories
Legend Native · 84 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
17 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
6–40 in/yr
pH range
6–7
Root depth
16 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
Yes
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
40,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 84 counties across 11 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 2 N
Colorado view state ↗ 2 N
Idaho view state ↗ 17 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 1 N
Montana view state ↗ 2 N
Nevada view state ↗ 2 N
New Mexico view state ↗ 1 N
Oregon view state ↗ 26 N
Utah view state ↗ 8 N
Washington view state ↗ 16 N
Wyoming view state ↗ 7 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/DACA3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2703262 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T14:42:51Z