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Vascular Plants of the Gorge at
Buttermilk Falls State Park (Ithaca, NY)

** Plant Finder **
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.About Grasses and Grass-like Plants

Got it!  I already read this.  Go to Graminoid key now.

   

     Grasses, sedges and rushes are all "graminoids"; that is,  grass-like, flowering, herbaceous (non-woody) plants. Their leaves are all extremely narrow, many times longer than wide, and have parallel veins. Though they are all monocots, they belong to three different plant families, respectively: Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae. Other types of monocots include orchids, lilies, irises and onions. When seeds of monocots germinate, they send up only one seed leaf, rather than a pair of seed leaves (as is the case for dicots).

     While some species of grass are valued for their aesthetic qualities (ornamental grasses), most graminoid species are not very showy. They tend to have small, inconspicuous flowers that are borne in compact arrangements, hidden, at least partially by minute scales. Flowers of most graminoid species consist mostly of male and female reproductive organs enclosed within scale-like bracts. Rush flowers, which have green or brown, chaffy or scale-like "tepals", are the exception to this rule.
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   Fig 1.  Inflorescences of (A) sweet vernal grass; (B) Pennsylvania sedge; (C) Path rush; (D) wood-rush.

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    Our "key " to the graminoids is admittedly basic and simple, because graminoids require a greater level of technical knowledge than is appropriate for our purposes here. It isn't always possible to identify a graminoid plant by its leaves alone, for the leaves of many of these plants are very similar: long and narrow, with parallel veins and
sheaths that surround the stem. Instead, one will often need to use a good-quality hand lens or even a dissecting microscope to examine characteristics of tiny scales, awns, ligules or fruit.

    This key will divide the graminoids into families: grasses, sedges and rushes. Within families, we will divide the species based on stem characteristics and gross characteristics of their inflorescences. For example, are the inflorescences narrow and very dense, or are they broad and open, with spreading branches. From there, you will click the image that most closely matches the plant you are trying to identify.

     To continue with the key, click the link near the top of this page.
      To learn more about graminoids, click here.
     To learn why there are relatievly few graminoids in the area surveyed, click
here.
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