A Call to Grass
Hi everyone,
I stumbled over this observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28990168 of Cynosurus cristatus yesterday, which @bobwardell helped to identify. In checking the stats on the taxa page https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/76581-Cynosurus-cristatus I found that we have only 12 observations in Germany so far, though wikipedia says it is a quite common grass, though locally listed as endangered. But looking at the GBIF data points in the map, it seems it should not be so difficult to get some more observations of it at iNat, though it seems to be advantageous to explore in Bavaria.
Digging a bit further in Poaceae it seems that many grass species are way too overlooked in general.
Poaceae observations in Germany: ~ 3000 observations with 161 different species sounds maybe not to bad. But a big chunk of them are not surprisingly Phragmites australis (266) and some others, and many, I assume, unidentified deeper than Poaceae:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?locale=de&place_id=7207&preferred_place_id=7207&subview=grid&taxon_id=47434&view=species
So I would like to give a Call to Grass for some of them (completely arbitrarily chosen ;-), their visuals seem catchy enough to remember them), which hopefully raises other Poaceae observation counters as well.
- Crested Dogstail (Wiesen-Kammgras), https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/76581-Cynosurus-cristatus, currently 12 observations
- European Feather-grass (Echtes Federgras), https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/355674-Stipa-pennata, currently 2 observations
- King Ranch bluestem (Finger-Bartgras), https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/75842-Bothriochloa-ischaemum, currently 2 observations
- Blue Moor-grass (Kalk-Blaugras), https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/363774-Sesleria-caerulea, currently 4 observations
- Giant Fescue (Riesen-Schwingel), https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/162949-Festuca-gigantea, currently 11 observations
- Wood Millet (Waldhirse), https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/165390-Milium-effusum, currently 18 observations
Any additions to the list, especially from a more expert point of view, are welcome!
Happy exploring!
Monika
Comments
I have some unidentified grasses. But no idea to identify them...
me two :-/ in the list I therefor tried to pick some that could at least be guessed, though expert confirmation would be needed
The first three I already found in Vienna. Cynosurus cristatus is even growing in front of my flat at a construction site :-)
Ha! :-) Yes, the documentation in Austria looks much better! 9 observations from a smaller country.
💪🏼
Hi Monika et. al. Had a think about your challenge and have a couple of thoughts - quality of photos!!!, number of photos!!! and diagnostic features!!! and common species that everyone should learn to start off with.
Do not submit rubbish photos!!
Focus focus focus!!
Photos of 1. habit 2. Panicle. 3. spikelet, 4. ligule, 5. culm, 6. sheath - ie. the diagnostic features - often need at least 3 to get a good chance of id.
Everyone should know these common species
Lolium perenne
Elymus repens
Dactylis glomerata
Poa annua
Arrhenatherum elatius
Holcus lanatus
Phleum pratense
Cheers to you all and have a happy recording season for 2020 and do not forget - better photos!!!!
Hi Bob, many thanks for your motivational reminder to focus and helpful hints what is needed to ID grasses! I think we all, each time we are heading out, start aiming not to forget to document those diagnostic features (as fas as we know or assume them), but once out in nature it is not so easy not to loose focus – there is always so much other nature around :-)
Cheerful recording season to you as well!
here is an image from wikipedia regarding the mentioned diagnostic features:
This is very helpful -- thanks Bob for the useful hints what to look for and mobbini for the corresponding sketch. I don't know anything about grasses at all and had actually planned to change that for this year. So now I already know a little better what I should pay attention to :)
yeah! Looking forward to many grass observations with diagnostic features. And maybe by end of the year we can interprete some of them. :-)
@bobwardell can you have a look at this obs https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/40660413? Is it Sesleria caerulea?
Checked! should be much more records for central Germany http://www.floraweb.de/webkarten/karte.html?taxnr=23996
Thank you ... now they are 6, yes, there sure is still "air to the top" (How to translate "Luft nach oben"?)
'room to improvement' or 'room to the upside'? 🤓
room for improvement! please! hahaha!
:-) well I will blend it a bit and take "air for improvement"
... thinking again at it, interesting, room & air is more similar than I got first, as "room" usually is filled with air
FYO - It is not a room in the sense of in a house, it is room (space/area) to move around in - although air still may play some strange part in that - Ha!
I would argue that in this sense most "room" (space) is not filled with air. In the universe, that is.
so we have room for vacuum then :-)
... or space for vacuum ...
but that is OK for 'Raum' but not necessarily for a parking space 'Parkplatz'
I see. ... english is so complicated^^ :)
You think that !- you should try to learn German ! HaHa!
:-) maybe some day
I'm just preparing for a woodland excursion, and I'll try and get the necessary photos in case I find one of the target species.
Great news @alexis_orion. Wood Millet is really everywhere in the wood round here, it is really odd that it is so rarely observed on iNat. Wish you good luck, and times with pausing wind, for easily focused shots :-)
special recommendation came in by @bobwardell along with this observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/48171112 of https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/75381-Alopecurus-aequalis: "a small only 15cm high grass in wet marginal freshwater habitats such as edges of ponds, ditches, wet meadows, reservoirs and gravel pits". We are in the best time to recognise it, as "its unique orange anthers are out now".
Note for Leipzig: I just checked the little "pond" in the Rosental. Seems it is not wetland enough any more, no Alopecurus aequalis has been there.
It is quite common in De in the right habitat https://karten.deutschlandflora.de/map.phtml?config=taxnr329&resetsession=allGroups&PHPSESSID=ieik3k9p64qil3pl2qafqhno54 - I found it last week on the gravels surrounding a disused gravel pit (Kiesegrube) but competing vegetation must be low or the surface recently disturbed https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47843559
Never seen that species. In Vienna it is quite rare, but if I look for it at the right spots I might see it. One location seems to be not that far from my home
good luck!
I found it the other day (I think)!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/50174183
to me it looks good, though I do not know enough for ID! :-) cool
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