Danthonia montevidensis Hack. & Arechav.

Echeverría, María L., Alonso, Sara I. & Comparatore, Viviana M., 2017, Survey of the vascular plants of Sierra Chica, the untouched area of the Paititi Natural Reserve (southeastern Tandilia mountain range, Buenos Aires province, Argentina), Check List 13 (6), pp. 1003-1036 : 1018-1019

Danthonia montevidensis Hack. & Arechav.

Figure 15

Danthonia montevidensis Hack. & Arechav. (1896) : 369— Zuloaga et

al. (2012a): 229; Flora Argentina (2017); Tropicos (2017).

Hemicryptophyte, native with distribution in the Southern Cone Region of South America; previously known from Buenos Aires province but not from mountainous areas. Available information is inadequate to make a direct or indirect assessment of its risk of extinction (Data Deficient) ( Delucchi 2006).

Characteristics: Perennial, caespitose species herbs, 15–60 cm tall. Young leaves are folded to rolled. Leaves parallel-veined, green, glabrous, to 30 cm long. Inflores-

cence: a loose pubescence panicle, to 15 cm long, with multiflorous lanceolate spikelets. Glumes 16–30 mm long, outgrowing flower sets. Spikelets with 5–10 flow- ers; lemma 2.5–4 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, with bifid apex. Central twisted awn brown or colorless, 15–23 cm long, inserted at bifurcation point of lemma. Fruit: an obovate caryopsis.

Comments. This is a frequent species in the study area. It grows in shallow to moderately deep soils on slopes, in grasslands, and around the pond. It is similar to Danthonia cirrata Hack. & Arechav. , which also has been found in the Paititi Reserve, but the lemma of the latter species has the lateral lobes longer than the undivided part.