GREAT TIME FOR GRASSES

I have written about grasses before (e.g. in May 2023) and summer is a good time to see many of them in flower as well as learning to identify them. 

It is worth getting to know the vocabulary for describing the parts of grasses as this will assist identification when using keys and reference books. The diagram here should help.

Grass flowers are small and wind-pollinated – huge quantities of pollen being released, as hay fever sufferers know only too well! Each species’ pollen is different and can be used for microscopic identification in soil samples or sediments. A pond on the site where I researched my PhD was the subject of anoxic sedimentary bore sample analysis in which the pollen showed what was growing in the area shortly after the last ice age! In the sediments away from oxygen, the pollen was well-preserved.

Betts Ecology let areas of grass grow, flower and set seed on the sites we manage. This enriches biodiversity by providing cover for small mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles and creates a rich habitat for insects and other invertebrates which are in so much trouble these days.