Field Identification of Late-Season Grasses (Poaceae)
led by Bill Moorhead
This plant
identification workshop focuses on identification and ecology of grasses (family
Poaceae) that are detectable and identifiable in the field in late summer and
early fall. The emphasis will be on the
“warm-season” grasses, but we will also cover a number of other important grass
species that are commonly encountered and are identifiable at this time of
year. We will cover the basic features
of grasses that distinguish them from other grass-like plants, the terminology
used in identification manuals to describe and distinguish grass species, the
characteristics of major groups, distinguishing warm-season from cool-season
grasses, distinguishing invasive and other non-native species from native
species, endangered grass species, wetland indicator values and other
ecological affinities of various species.
The
workshop is broken into two days:
o
The first day that is largely devoted to lecture and lab.
o
The second day that is entirely devoted to travelling
to representative habitats and their grasses at several sites.
Participants
may register for one or both days.
Grasses are a difficult group, and it is recommended that serious
students who do not consider themselves advanced students register for both
days. If you do not consider yourself an
advanced student of grasses and can only attend one session, we recommend the
first rather than the second day, as we will not be able to cover the basics
again on the second day. People who
prefer to, or are only able to, register for only one day of the workshop are
welcome, but first preference for
space will be given to people registering for both days, so there is the
possibility that one-day-only registrants may be “bumped’ out of the workshop
by people registering for both days, even if they are registering later than
the one-day-registrants.
Taxonomy will follow The New Engand Wildflower Societiy’s GoBotany web-site and Arthur Haines' Flora Novae Angliae.
Please
contact instructor Bill Moorhead, at
whmoorhead@optonline.net
or 860-567-4920, if you have any questions about the level and content of the
workshop (particularly as they relate to decisions about taking only one day
vs. both days of the workshop)
.
BILL MOORHEAD is an independent consulting field botanist based in western Connecticut. He has specialized for 25 years in the search for populations of rare plants and their habitats, and the study of plant communities and the factors determining their species composition and distribution. He leads plant and plant community walks and canoe-trip “eco-tours”, and teaches plant identification workshops in difficult plant groups, such as sedges, grasses, asters and goldenrods, as well as invasive species and their native look-a-likes.
NOTE: This workshop needs a minimum of 12 participants to run.
Continuing Education Units Available:
CT Forest Practitioner - 2.5 CEU / day
NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals - 4.0 CEU
(4 CEU total for one day or both)
Cost: $100 each day, lunch and refreshments provided
