Field Guide to Grasses of the Mid-Atlantic

About this book

Grasses are among the most ubiquitous plants on the planet. They inhabit a wide geographic range and are found in a variety of natural habitats. The small parts of the grass flower and specialized terminology, however, can make identifying grasses a challenging endeavor. Sarah Chamberlain's Field Guide to Grasses of the Mid-Atlantic makes identification simpler for everyone – regardless of their previous botanical knowledge.

Featuring an easy-to-use dichotomous key, this is a user-friendly guide to more than 300 types of grasses found from the Blue Ridge Mountains and southern plains to the Appalachians and the Allegheny Plateau. Each major entry contains detailed species diagrams as well as common names, habitats, and distribution. The book's opening sections outline the parts of grass flowers and describe stem, leaf, and sheath characteristics.

With a wealth of illustrations, instructions on how to use the key, and a glossary of terms, Field Guide to Grasses of the Mid-Atlantic is an indispensable reference for naturalists and conservationists, botanists, land management professionals, and students and scholars of mid-Atlantic flora.

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

How to Use This Guide
      General Suggestions
      Deciphering a Grass Entry
      Parts of the Grass
      Disarticulation
      Roots and Rhizomes (Perennial versus Annual)
      Illustrated Characteristics of Grass Parts
      Some Unusual Grasses

General Key
      Genera Keys
      Agrostis
      Aira
      Alopecurus
      Andropogon
      Anthoxanthum    
      Aristida
      Avena
      Brachyelytrum    
      Briza
      Bromus
      Calamagrostis    
      Calamovilfa
      Cenchrus
      Chasmanthium
      Cinna
      Cynosurus
      Danthonia
      Deschampsia
      Diarrhena
      Dichanthelium    
      Digitaria
      Echinochloa
      Elymus    
      Eragrostis
      Festuca and Schedonorus
      Glyceria
      Gymnopogon
      Holcus
      Hordeum
      Leersia
      Leptochloa
      Lolium
      Melica
      Muhlenbergia
      Panicum
      Paspalum
      Phalaris
      Piptatherum
      Poa
      Puccinellia
      Saccharum
      Setaria    
      Sorghum
      Spartina
      Sphenopholis
      Sporobolus
      Urochloa
      Vulpia
      Zizania

References
Plant Index
Photo Credits

Customer Reviews

Biography

Sarah Chamberlain is an Assistant Research Professor at Riparia, a research center in the Department of Geography and curator of the Penn State (PAC) Herbarium.