HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



WHAT DO GRASSES LOOK LIKE? 



ROOTS 

 The root systems of grasses (Fig. 2) are always fibrous and the 

 majority gf the roots arise from the lower nodes of the stems. Be- 

 cause of the fibrous nature of the roots, they are excellent soil binders. 

 When we pull up a grass plant, we remove only a small portion of the 

 total root system, which in many species may reach a depth of six feet 

 or more. 



"^m 



Roots '_ 



^RhiZonr 



Figure 2 



STEMS 

 The flowering stems or culms of grasses (Fig. 2) are jointed and 

 usually round and hollow between the soUd joints (nodes). They may 

 branch, in which case a thin membrane, H- 

 shaped in cross section, lies between the main 

 cuhn and the branch. It is called a prophyllum 

 (Fig. 3), and it grasps the main culm with two 

 flanges and the branch with the other two. 

 Thus it serves as a brace to the weak V-joint 

 between the main stem and the branch. Stems 

 may be erect, or with bent, knee-Uke bases (de- 

 cumbent), or they may trail on the surface of 

 the ground (stolons) and root at the nodes, or 

 they may even grow in the top few inches of 

 soil (rhizomes). The stems of grasses range 

 in size from those like six-weeks fescue, a mil- 

 limeter or two in diameter and a few centimeters 

 tall, up to the giant bamboos, which may attain 

 a height of a hundred feet and a diameter of 



a foot or more. Figure 3 



