Poverty Oat Grass
Danthonia spicata
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Poverty Oat Grass (Danthonia spicata) is a small, tufted, cool-season native grass that thrives where richer plants struggle — dry, poor, sandy, or rocky soils. That tolerance for "poverty" soils is how it earned its common name. Its leaves often curl as they age, and by late summer the old foliage forms low, wiry clumps. It is one of the grasses seeded into the meadow at the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.
Quick Facts
| Scientific name | Danthonia spicata |
| Family | — |
| Height | 1-2 ft |
| Bloom time | May-Jun |
| Sun | Full sun to part shade |
| Moisture | Dry |
| Soil | Sand, gravel |
| Wildlife value | Tolerates the poorest dry soils; early cool-season bunchgrass |
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