Grasses Identification

Transcription

1 Grasses Identification 5 th 12 th July 2013 (Friday Friday) Led by Judith Allinson Level: Intermediate Alpine Cat s-tail Photographed by: Judith Allinson Kindrogan Field Studies Centre Enochdhu, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, PH10 7PG Tel: , Fax: enquiries.kd@field-studies-council.org, Web site: The Field Studies Council (FSC) is an environmental education charity committed to helping people explore, understand and be inspired by the natural world. Each year over 100,000 people experience the FSC through visits to our network of 17 Centres

2 Course outline: July is an excellent time to see grasses in flower. We shall: Learn about the vegetative and flowering structure of grasses, and the names of the flower parts. Practice using keys to improve our identification skills. Visit a variety of delightful habitats around Kindrogan including woodland, riverside, acid and basic grassland and moorland; Weather and fitness permitting there will be a mountain day. We also plan a coastal day. Learn some of the grasses which act as indicator species for certain habitats. Find most of the common UK grasses, plus some mountain and woodland specialities during the course. This course should be of value to those engaged in botanical survey work, to amateur botanists and to those interested in learning how to recognise some members of this important group of plants. Your tutor: Judith Allinson has run Grasses courses at Kindrogan over several years. She is a former member of FSC staff and co-author of the AIDGAP Key to Grasses in the Vegetative State. She worked for several years carrying out botanical survey work for English Nature. She has taught in schools and carries out some freelance survey work. Equipment to bring with you: Lunch Box, vacuum flask Waterproof walking boots ** Waterproof clothing ** Rucksack Plenty of spare warm clothing Binoculars, if you have them Hand Lens (x10 magnification) Small notebook and pencil ** We have wellingtons and waterproofs available for hire at the centre. Recommended Reading: Grasses CE Hubbard, (Strongly recommended reading) Other useful books if you already have the above:-

3 New Flora of the British Isles CA Stace, Cambridge University Press Excursion Flora of the British Isles AR Clapham, TG Tutin, & Warburg, Cambridge University Press Collins pocket guide to Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns by Fitter, Fitter and Farrer Colour Identification Guide to Grasses Sedges Rushes and Ferns by Francis Rose Grasses of the British Isles (BSBI) Cope T & Gray A, 2009 The Vegetative Key to the British Flora (BSBI) John Poland J & Clement E Collins Flower Guide. D Streeter et al. (2009). Plus any other grass books you may have. Provisional Programme ( maybe varied depending on the weather) Morning Afternoon Evening Examples of grasses we ll see Fri Introduction + walk outside to collect 5 introductory plants Sat Sun Mon Tue Intro to flowering parts and to vegetative parts of a grass. Visit to Straloch Moraine (1mile away) good views and a wide variety of grasses and flowers in this SSSI pasture with basic grassland and heath. Walk to Glas Maol to look for grasses of acid grassland and mountain species. This is the only hard walking day 6 miles, but uphill. Use of Keys in lab; What makes a Poa a Poa, an Agrostis an Agrostis etc for 8 genera. Visit to local farm Dirnanean, and to nearby SWT Meadow Coastal Day; Visit to Loch of Kinnordy en route to see Poa palustris; then sand dunes and dune slacks at St Cyrus Wed Use of keys / Consolidation / Indicator species / Projects in the Centre grounds. Thur Fri The Birks of Aberfeldy superb woodland species beside this woodland ravine easy footpath Departure after breakfast. Press and sort specimens Lab work and discussion Computer key; Lab work; Revision. (N.B. we are likely to return late after the coastal day) Report on the projects/ more work with keys. Get our notebooks up to date. Lab work. Discussion. Meadow Foxtail Red Fescue Cocksfoot False Oat-grass Heath Grass Wavy Hairgrass Quaking grass Viviparous Fescue Alpine Cat s-tail Alpine Foxtail 3 Sweetgrasses Meadow Fescue Marsh Foxtail Marram grass Lyme grass Crested Hairgrass Bearded Couch Reed Canarygrass Broad-leaved Meadow-grass Wood Millet Wood Fescue Lesser Hairybrome Alopecurus pratensis Festuca rubra Dactylis glomerata Arrhenatherum elatius Danthonia decumbens Deschampsia flexuosa Briza media Festuca vivipara Phleum alpinum Alopecurus ovatus Glyceria spp Schedonorus (Festuca) pratensis Alopecurus geniculatus Ammophila arenaria Leymus arenarius Koeleria macrantha Elymus caninus Phalaris arundinacea Poa chaixii Milium effusum Festuca altissima Bromopsis benekenii

4 Booking Procedure: To book a place on this course, please complete the booking form and send it together with a deposit of (cheque payable to Field Studies Council Ltd). Provisional bookings should be made by telephone. Payment of the balance of the course fee will be 30 days before the beginning of the course. Cancellation after this date may leave the customer liable for the full amount a condition which is accepted when the booking is confirmed. It is highly recommended that all visitors have adequate insurance cover at all times and Field Studies Council now have an agreement in place with Zurich Insurance plc who have arranged a blanket insurance policy for all FSC course participants, the details of this will be sent to you upon booking. Course Fees & What s Included : Resident 490 Sole Occupancy or 420 Shared Accommodation. Non Resident 315 (everything except bed and breakfast) Full professional tuition, full board accommodation including cooked breakfast, packed lunch, Tea/Coffee, homemade cakes and an evening meal. Vegetarian and other dietary options are catered for. Transport to all field sites, where required, from supper on 5 th until after breakfast on the 12 th July. Transport Any excursions during the trip will be made in either the Centre vehicles or private cars. The cost of this is included in the fee. For anyone who kindly uses their own vehicle for the course excursions will be reimbursed for petrol costs at a set rate. Arrival and Departure Times Resident and Non-resident visitors are requested to arrive at the centre before 7pm on the 5 th and report to reception. Evening meal will be served at 7.30pm and the course will commence after a brief welcome to Kindrogan. Tuition will end on the evening of the 11 th with departure after breakfast on the 12 th. If you would like to extend your visit we can offer accommodation on a Bed and Breakfast or Dinner Bed and Breakfast basis, please contact the office on to check on availability prior to your visit.

5 Your room at Kindrogan We have a limited number of en-suite rooms in the main house for single/ shared occupancy, these are subject to availability at the time of the course. We can offer twin rooms also for single / shared occupancy with shared toilets and showers in our Steading accommodation. We can also offer a single room with shared toilets and showers at a discounted rate in our Ardle accommodation. Pictures from previous years:- Straloch Moraine 2010 Examining a ligule of Heath Grass Hungarian Brome Local Meadow