Grasses AIDGAP
A guide to identification using vegetative characters
Grasses AIDGAP is an identification guide to the 90 commonest grass species of Britain and Ireland.
- A vegetative key: can be used all year round
- Illustrated with full colour photographs throughout
- Designed for living grasses in the field
Grasses have a reputation as one of the more difficult group of plants to identify. But they are an essential group for the serious botanist to get to grips with. Grasses form the matrix of a wide range of habitats. They also provide important cover in urban landscapes, including road verges, parklands and playing fields. As a result, grasses are an essential component of most habitat survey protocols. These include Phase I Habitat surveys, National Vegetation Classification (NVC), farm stewardship surveys and Habitat Condition Assessments.
Unfortunately most identification keys to grasses need the flower heads to be present. This is fine in mid summer, but is not always practical in spring, autumn and winter. Even in summer, cutting and grazing will remove flower heads. Unfavourable conditions like dense shade can inhibit flowering.
This guide is different. It uses characters which are present all year round. Users do not need expensive or specialist equipment. A hand lens (x10 or x20) and a ruler are enough. The most important characters are leaf form, ligule, auricle, leaf sheath, life cycle and growth form. For ease of use the species accounts are presented next to the diagnostic couplets, rather than as a separate section at the end.
This Grasses guide is part of the FSC’s AIDGAP series (Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants). The aim of AIDGAP series is to produce accessible keys suitable for non-specialists from age 16+. Although written by specialists, all AIDGAP guides go through field tests in draft form. As with all guides in the series, the Grasses AIDGAP underwent extensive testing before publication, by beginners and specialists alike. The author has revised this, the first published version, in the light of the testers’ experience.
