3.
INTRODUCTION TO GRASSES
It is always a pleasure for me to
try and explain the truth about grasses.
The first glimmer of awakening comes
when a beginner realises that these
plants really do have flowers, even if
they are adapted to wind pollination
instead of pollination by colour sensi-
tive, smell conscious, nectar and pollen
hungry insects. The next surprise is
the realisation that a large number of
species can be recognised by their general
appearance without a great deal of
technical knowledge. This led me to
produce specimen sheets with examples of
eight common grasses found in the
Childerditch Pond area when about twenty
people assembled for the E.F.C. meeting
on 27th June, 1976. In this way I hoped
that everybody would learn at least
eight grasses, and perhaps be persuaded
to continue on their own after the meeting.
The easiest grass to begin with is
the perennial rye grass Lolium perenne.
The structures arranged along the stalk
are called spikelets and in this grass
they are positioned edgewise on to the
stalk. You have probably seen this
grass in your lawn. Another similar grass
that gardeners are only too glad not to
have in their gardens is the couch grass
Agropyron repens. This one has the
spikelets arranged broad side on to the
stalk. It is a difficult weed to
eradicate, because it spreads with
rhyzomes under the ground which are
difficult to pull up, and any remaining