Grass Genera of the World

L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz


Notodanthonia Zotov

From the Greek notos (south), thus the southern Danthonias.

Sometimes referred to Danthonia s.l.; Rytidosperma

Excluding Rytidosperma

Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial; caespitose. The flowering culms leafless. Culms 20–80 cm high; herbaceous; cylindrical; unbranched above; 2–7 noded. Culm nodes exposed; glabrous. Culm internodes solid. Young shoots extravaginal, or intravaginal. Leaves mostly basal; non-auriculate; without auricular setae. Sheath margins free. Leaf blades linear-lanceolate; neither leathery nor flimsy; narrow; 0.3–2 mm wide; flat; without cross venation; persistent; ligule present; a fringe of hairs. Contra-ligule absent.

Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets all alike in sexuality; hermaphrodite. Not viviparous.

Inflorescence. Inflorescence many spikeleted; paniculate; open; more or less irregular; espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes solitary. Spikelets solitary; not secund; pedicellate.

Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets morphologically ‘conventional’; cuneate; green; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes; disarticulating between the florets; with conventional internode spacings. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; hairless; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets. Hairy callus present. The callus hairs white. Callus short, or long (more or less equalling the rhachilla); blunt.

Glumes two; relatively large; more or less equal; exceeding the spikelets; long relative to the adjacent lemmas; hairless; scabrous (along veins, especially midrib); pointed; not subulate; awnless; carinate; similar. Lower glume much exceeding the lowest lemma; 3–7 nerved. Upper glume 3–7 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets merely underdeveloped; awnless. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.

Female-fertile florets 2–7. Lemmas similar in texture to the glumes; smooth; not becoming indurated; white in fruit; incised; 2 lobed (tapering into slender setae); deeply cleft; awned. Awns 1, or 3; median (if solitary), or median and lateral (if three); from a sinus; geniculate (while the lateral are non-geniculate); hairless; much longer than the body of the lemma; entered by several veins; persistent. Awn bases twisted; flattened. Lemmas hairy. The hairs not in tufts (the upper margin of the indumentum with much longer hairs than on the body, which is generally shortly felted with hairs); not in transverse rows. Lemmas non-carinate; without a germination flap; 9 nerved; with the nerves confluent towards the tip. Palea present; relatively long; not convolute; entire, or apically notched; awnless, without apical setae; thinner than the lemma; not indurated; 2-nerved; 2-keeled. Palea back glabrous, or scabrous, or hairy. Palea keels wingless; scabrous. Lodicules present; 2; free; fleshy; ciliate; not or scarcely vascularized. Stamens 3. Anthers 0.5–1.5 mm long. Ovary glabrous. Styles free to their bases; free. Style bases widely separated. Stigmas 2; white.

Fruit, embryo and seedling. Disseminule a caryopsis enclosed in but free of the lemma and palea. Fruit free from both lemma and palea; small; golden-brown; obovate; compressed dorsiventrally; glabrous; smooth. Hilum short (less than 1/3 of caryopsis length). Pericarp thin; fused. Embryo large; waisted.

Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3; XyMS+.

Cytology. Chromosome base number, x = 6. 2n = 24. 2 ploid, or 4 ploid.

Taxonomy. Arundinoideae; Danthonieae.

Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 5 species; Australia and New Zealand. Not commonly adventive. Mesophytic; shade species (light shade); glycophytic.

Australian. North and East Australian.

References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Notodanthonia as re-circumscribed by H.P. Linder, who provided this morphological description (1997).

Illustrations. • Lemmas (penicillata, pilosa = Austrodanthonia, semiannularis = Notodanthonia)


Cite this publication as: Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M. J. (1992 onwards). ‘Grass Genera of the World: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval; including Synonyms, Morphology, Anatomy, Physiology, Phytochemistry, Cytology, Classification, Pathogens, World and Local Distribution, and References.’ http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/. Version: 18th August 1999. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993 onwards, 1998), and Watson and Dallwitz (1994), and Watson, Dallwitz, and Johnston (1986) should also be cited (see References).

Index