Grasses, Sedges and Rushes

This course is fully booked on this date but you can join the waiting list (by scrollling to the bottom of the page) in case space becomes available or it is run on another date.

Grasses, sedges and rushes are frequently lumped together and dismissed as being too difficult to identify. Yet they often form the dominant vegetation and many of them are indicators of particular habitat types, so it is essential for any serious botanist to be able to handle them. This course will cover the structural differences between the three families, with emphasis on the terminology and diagnostic features. Many of these are small, so handlenses will be used and we will also have access to the field centre's microscopes. A number of contrasting sites around Shropshire will be visited so participants will be able to identify the commoner members of each family in a range of different habitats, using illustrated field guides and keys. As this is an introductory course we will concentrate on plants in flower, although we will also look at vegetative keys.

Brenda Harold has tutored many botanical courses for different organisations and is an active Wildlife Trust volunteer. She is a qualified botanist, a BSBI Referee and a retired university lecturer.

Further Information

View your basket