Grass Identification Field Day

While having some time away, I had the opportunity to attend a field day in relation to the Grasses Identification course that I have been participating in over that last couple of months. Because of the dry season, plants did not have the growth and seed set that would be expected at this time of the year. The idea of the field day was to see the grasses in the field and get an idea of the general look of the species as a first step in identification. Part of this was also to identify what were the grasses as opposed to species that, although tufted plants, were not grasses.

We were in an area which was Department of Transport reserve land. To my eye there was quite lush growth compared to what I see growing on our place and similar areas in the district. The field day was in the Northern Lofty region which receives more rain than here where we live in a rain shadow.

It is amazing how, once you have been looking closely at grass plants, one’s eyes become quick to pick up the plants growing on the side of the road.

The photo shows some of the grassy woodland we were walking through with a large Eucalyptus viminalis (Manna Gum).