Identifying Grasses Using Vegetative Features

The ability to identify grasses using vegetative features is a useful skill that is well worth acquiring. It can be used at any time of year, so that surveys can be carried out beyond the usual June-August flowering season. Vegetative features are an additional set of characters to investigate to complement flowering features when keying out grasses. Identifying grasses becomes much easier and more fun when carried out with the help of a tutor and other botanists.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Have learned the vocabulary to describe the flowering parts and vegetative parts of grass
• Have the experience of having used a three different keys to identify a grass using vegetative features
• Having visited a variety of habitats you will associate certain species with certain habitats
• Know useful tips for recognising a selection of some of the commoner species of grasses
• If you wish you can go home with a small pressed collection of plants we have found
• Have been introduced to some indicator species
• If of interest, you may also have looked at some of the associated pant species including other monocots and mosses

Who Should Attend? – This course is for people who are required to carry out botanical surveys –  whether for environmental impact/agricultural surveys, BSBI species recording, or just for general interest.

Knowledge Level – Beginner-Intermediate. Level descriptors can be found on the following web-page: Framework and Course Level Descriptors

Prior Knowledge – Some experience of keying out plants in general is useful, as would be knowledge of flowers of a few of the commonest grasses such as Cock’s-foot and Yorkshire Fog. However, no knowledge of vegetative features is required – that is what you are coming to learn!

PLEASE NOTE: There is no accommodation or meal facilities provided with this course. Refreshments (tea and coffee) will be available. If we are unable to reach viable numbers for this course, we will inform you of the course cancellation 4-5 weeks prior to the course run. We would recommend when purchasing accommodation and/or travel you should take out your own insurance.

Bookings will close if course capacity is reached.

Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.

Judith Allinson

Judith has taught Grasses, and Grasses, Sedges and Rushes courses at Field Studies Council centres for many years. She has carried out grassland survey work for Natural England and other organisations. She co-authored the Field Studies Council AIDGAP guide “A punched-card key to grasses in the vegetative state”, by Pankhurst and Allinson.

Please arrive in time for the course to start promptly at 9:30am.
There will be a one-hour lunch break during the day. Lunch is not included so please bring your own food. Refreshments (tea and coffee) will be provided.
The course will finish at 17:00pm on both days.

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  Expert Tuition

The course has been carefully created by expert tutors and educators to help you continue to build and develop your knowledge and apply it within the field surrounded by like-minded individuals.

The course includes:

• Classroom learning covering the theory of the species
• Field excursions to apply new knowledge
• Expert tuition for which the Field Studies Council is renowned
• Clear objectives and progression
• Refreshments (tea and coffee)

You can rest assured that the absolute best content from an expert in environmental education will be provided. In choosing this course, you will be joining thousands of people who learn with us each year.

Student Discount

This course is eligible for a student discount. If you are a current student, please use discount code BioStudent20 at checkout for 20% off all Biodiversity courses.

Natural History Bursaries

There are a number of natural history bursaries available to help with the cost of your course. To find out if you and your chosen course are eligible, find out more here:

What to bring:

• Notebook and pencil
• Lunch and refreshments
• Sensible footwear and clothing for being outdoors

If you already possess the following it would be useful if you could bring them along, but it is not vital:

• Hand lens
• Dissecting kit
• Waterproofs
• Two or three large carrier bags for collecting specimens

Recommended Literature

When you book this course, you will receive a discount code for the Field Studies Council recommended guides below.

• Grasses AIDGAP - A guide to identification using vegetative characters by Hilary Wallace
• Hubbard CE: Grasses: A Guide to Their Structure, Identification, Uses and Distribution. (Available cheaply second-hand)
• Poland and Clement: A Vegetative Key to the British flora

Any other grass books you own!