| Author | Austin ex Peck | |
| Distribution | Mountains and upper Piedmont. A disjunct record east to Mecklenburg County.
N.S. and Ont. south to northern GA and AL. | |
| Abundance | Frequent to common throughout the mapped area. The website editors suggest a State Rank of S4, given its widespread presence throughout the Mountains and upper foothills. | |
| Habitat | Rock outcrops, grassy balds, montane woodlands, woodland openings. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-August. | |
| Identification | As its name suggests, the stem is often compressed (at least sections of it), but this is not a very valuable key character. From the ubiquitous Poverty Oatgrass (D. spicata), it differs in the longer lemma teeth on each side of the awn (2.0-4.5 mm long vs. 0.8-1.8 mm long in D. spicata), and mature leaves are flexuous but not curled as in Poverty Oatgrass. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | Mountain Oatgrass, Northern Oatgrass | |
| State Rank | S3 [S4] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACU link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
