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Agnes Chase's First Book of Grasses: The Structure of Grasses Explained for Beginners
For almost seventy-five years, Agnes Chase's First Book of Grasses has been the classic guide to the structure of this complex group of plants. Clearly written and copiously illustrated with line drawings, the book is accessible to those with little or no botanical training, yet it also is respected by botanists as an authoritative introduction to agrostology.
Last updated in 1959, the book now has been thoroughly revised to reflect current scientific knowledge, nomenclature, and classification. Divided into twelve lessons, the guide first surveys the basic vegetative and reproductive parts of a grass plant, then in succeeding lessons takes up increasingly more complex modifications. Formally recognized groups of grasses are discussed in a taxonomic context, with the principal focus on grass structures, particularly those of inflorescences and spikelets. Virtually all of the species discussed are illustrated with detailed line drawings. With the addition in this edition of a lesson on bamboos, coverage now extends to tropical regions and encompasses all major groups of grasses. The book also includes a short biography of Agnes Chase in the foreword and, for the first time in this edition, a glossary accompanies the appendices on grass classification.
Last updated in 1959, the book now has been thoroughly revised to reflect current scientific knowledge, nomenclature, and classification. Divided into twelve lessons, the guide first surveys the basic vegetative and reproductive parts of a grass plant, then in succeeding lessons takes up increasingly more complex modifications. Formally recognized groups of grasses are discussed in a taxonomic context, with the principal focus on grass structures, particularly those of inflorescences and spikelets. Virtually all of the species discussed are illustrated with detailed line drawings. With the addition in this edition of a lesson on bamboos, coverage now extends to tropical regions and encompasses all major groups of grasses. The book also includes a short biography of Agnes Chase in the foreword and, for the first time in this edition, a glossary accompanies the appendices on grass classification.
152 pages, Paperback
First published April 17, 1996
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June 18, 2013
Grasses are hard. Very hard. Super hard, so hard that many botany enthusiasts that I know don’t even attempt to learn the grasses or if they did, certainly don’t try to identify them now. I know when I first started getting into botany, I tried to identify a few, but found lots of obstacles; most popular field guides only covered a few, they were hard to photograph, I didn’t even know what to look for, and when I did find resources to help me identify them, those resources, be they books or online, were filled with terms alien to the rest of botany and certainly to me. Terms like palea, lemma, glume, and rachilla. What?
I got to where I didn’t even see grasses so to speak, like the days before I got into botany and tried to learn any plants…grasses were just part of the landscape, something that things happened around and to, something in the way of wildflower or a perch for an interesting insect, nothing I learned or tried to identify except in rare circumstances.
It is not that I didn’t want to learn grasses – I like all kinds of plants – but where could I begin? I didn’t foresee taking a botany class at a local college and didn’t think I could wade through a botany textbook on my own, certainly not one on grasses (wouldn’t that presuppose I was already a true botanist?). I couldn’t even use a key as again, I just didn’t have a feel for the terms or what these parts of the grass plant looked like, particular given all their wonderful variation between the various species.
This book, an updated version of apparently a classic in the field (I can see why), tries to introduce the budding agrostologist (that’s grass scientist) to the basics of identifying grasses. With an introduction, twelve short lessons, a chapter on how to study and identify grasses, a primer chapter on major grass tribes and lots and LOTS of illustrations, Chase (and revised edition editors/authors Clark and Pohl) show again and again the terms you need to master to start learning grasses.
Show me the spikelets! That should be the title of this botany primer, though that would not really be keeping in the tone of this book (not dry but not big on humor either). Though the authors mention that this method – focusing on the spikelets – is not foolproof, it is far and away the best way for a beginner (and many an expert) to identify a grass to the species level, not worrying much about vegetative characteristics. With illustration after illustration of both idealized grass structures and the individual variations of common and representative rarer grass species, the authors introduce the reader to the many variations in spikelet anatomy that one might see in the field, all pretty much variations in the shape, presence, or absence of basic spikelet features. Helpfully, in addition to the numerous black and white clear and easy to read line drawings, each chapter has a summary. Some chapters are so short that the summary is almost a quarter of the whole chapter. Also with the summary is a lab experiment of sorts, urging the reader to find common grasses of certain types and identify in hand the features discussed in that chapter.
What this book is NOT is a field guide to grasses. Though the authors show the identifying features of many common United States grasses, given both the binomial and the common name and often talking a little (a sentence or so) about that grass’s ecology, it will not per se help you identify a grass that you find in a meadow or growing in the backyard (well it might if you happen upon one of the grass species they use for illustration purposes). What it will do is give you some confidence to use a key (more than other group of plants, you will have to use a key) to identify a grass.
Am I an expert now? Hardly! I looked through a key in one of the books in this book’s helpful bibliography. Though it did indeed draw upon the anatomical features that this book brought to the reader’s attention, one will still have to master the many technical descriptive terms used in reference to those features. Many of those terms are introduced in this book, some are not. If you can’t find them by flipping through this slim volume, there is a helpful glossary at the back. What this book is is a start.
Personally, I think I will have to review this book many times and go on to other supplemental books – as well as looking at lots of grasses in the field – to ever get anything like a handle on the common, easier to identify grasses. Perhaps not as daunting as it sounds, as grasses overall are common, widespread, often present in huge numbers of individuals, and people tend not to frown upon (or even notice) one picking some grass for identification purposes (you pretty much will have to do that with many grass species).
Not a book I would sit down and read for fun, though the introduction on the importance and ecological and human history of grasses was very readable, as was the personal history of Agnes Chase, who lead a fascinating life and should be much better known but is not (outside of botany). It is a relatively quick read though not one you want to speed read as you do need to spend time studying the many diagrams and illustrations.
I got to where I didn’t even see grasses so to speak, like the days before I got into botany and tried to learn any plants…grasses were just part of the landscape, something that things happened around and to, something in the way of wildflower or a perch for an interesting insect, nothing I learned or tried to identify except in rare circumstances.
It is not that I didn’t want to learn grasses – I like all kinds of plants – but where could I begin? I didn’t foresee taking a botany class at a local college and didn’t think I could wade through a botany textbook on my own, certainly not one on grasses (wouldn’t that presuppose I was already a true botanist?). I couldn’t even use a key as again, I just didn’t have a feel for the terms or what these parts of the grass plant looked like, particular given all their wonderful variation between the various species.
This book, an updated version of apparently a classic in the field (I can see why), tries to introduce the budding agrostologist (that’s grass scientist) to the basics of identifying grasses. With an introduction, twelve short lessons, a chapter on how to study and identify grasses, a primer chapter on major grass tribes and lots and LOTS of illustrations, Chase (and revised edition editors/authors Clark and Pohl) show again and again the terms you need to master to start learning grasses.
Show me the spikelets! That should be the title of this botany primer, though that would not really be keeping in the tone of this book (not dry but not big on humor either). Though the authors mention that this method – focusing on the spikelets – is not foolproof, it is far and away the best way for a beginner (and many an expert) to identify a grass to the species level, not worrying much about vegetative characteristics. With illustration after illustration of both idealized grass structures and the individual variations of common and representative rarer grass species, the authors introduce the reader to the many variations in spikelet anatomy that one might see in the field, all pretty much variations in the shape, presence, or absence of basic spikelet features. Helpfully, in addition to the numerous black and white clear and easy to read line drawings, each chapter has a summary. Some chapters are so short that the summary is almost a quarter of the whole chapter. Also with the summary is a lab experiment of sorts, urging the reader to find common grasses of certain types and identify in hand the features discussed in that chapter.
What this book is NOT is a field guide to grasses. Though the authors show the identifying features of many common United States grasses, given both the binomial and the common name and often talking a little (a sentence or so) about that grass’s ecology, it will not per se help you identify a grass that you find in a meadow or growing in the backyard (well it might if you happen upon one of the grass species they use for illustration purposes). What it will do is give you some confidence to use a key (more than other group of plants, you will have to use a key) to identify a grass.
Am I an expert now? Hardly! I looked through a key in one of the books in this book’s helpful bibliography. Though it did indeed draw upon the anatomical features that this book brought to the reader’s attention, one will still have to master the many technical descriptive terms used in reference to those features. Many of those terms are introduced in this book, some are not. If you can’t find them by flipping through this slim volume, there is a helpful glossary at the back. What this book is is a start.
Personally, I think I will have to review this book many times and go on to other supplemental books – as well as looking at lots of grasses in the field – to ever get anything like a handle on the common, easier to identify grasses. Perhaps not as daunting as it sounds, as grasses overall are common, widespread, often present in huge numbers of individuals, and people tend not to frown upon (or even notice) one picking some grass for identification purposes (you pretty much will have to do that with many grass species).
Not a book I would sit down and read for fun, though the introduction on the importance and ecological and human history of grasses was very readable, as was the personal history of Agnes Chase, who lead a fascinating life and should be much better known but is not (outside of botany). It is a relatively quick read though not one you want to speed read as you do need to spend time studying the many diagrams and illustrations.
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