Identification of Common Grasses (Poaceae) Using Field Features
Instructor: Dr. Robert Lichvar
Dates: April 1st – 4th, 2024
Times: 7PM–9PM ET
Scheduling Details: April 1, 2, 3, 4
Tuition Cost: $280 + $75 speciman collection fee
Description: Grasses are commonly thought of as a challenging family of plants to learn. Many taxonomy classes mention the family but spend little time introducing and learning major features needed for identification. Specimens will be shipped to students to use during live online classes and lab exercises. This online class will focus on the most common grasses, and students will be taught how to quickly identify grasses to tribes and then learn the common genera in those tribes and some of the common species within each tribe. We will identify on the order of 50 or more species of grasses using simple morphological features and a 10x hand lens. Classes will involve a series of PowerPoint slides will be used to discuss taxonomy and morphology of the grass family. Then tribe by tribe will be examined for needed features and reviewed and reviewed to build confidence. Constant class interaction and keying will occur during all the online time. Several references will be suggested to read and review for a better in-depth knowledge. But the real experience is repeating and keying tribes and genera so that a student obtains confidence in quickly placing a grass into a tribe/genus so species can be identified. The focus will be on common grasses but that survey will be useable anywhere in the US.
