A guide to Florida grasses.

9780813033198

A guide to Florida grasses.

Taylor, Walter Kingsley.

U. Press of Florida

2009

361 pages

$49.95

Paperback

QK495

Most biologists and botanists ignore grasses, but then so do most people in general, says Taylor (emeritus biology, U. of Central Florida), partly because the species are so like each other that they are hard to distinguish, and partly because as a group they are so different from other plants that a whole new vocabulary and way of looking is required. He takes on the challenge by offering an identification key to species found in the southeasternmost US state. He begins with an overview of grasses, how they differ from their close relatives sedges and rushes, their presence in Florida, and the structure of their vegetative and reproductive parts. Then he presents the key itself, arranged alphabetically by tribe, and then by specie, again alphabetically. Entries include common and Latin names; generic descriptions; distribution; habitat; culm; leaf, sheath, and ligule; inflorescence and flower; and reproductive time; often comments; color photographs of whole plants and details; and sometimes additional drawings.

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