How to identify prairie plants? Look at pictures of plants and use keys – dichotomous, polyclave, interactive – give some examples later. Pictures in books work best for plants with showy flowers. For grasses, keys are a must. How to decide if a plant is a grass or a forb? How to decide which key to use? Focus for this class is mostly grasses.

Which Key to Use First, to which division of the Plant Kingdom does the plant belong? This is based on how the plant reproduces. –Spores – Lichen, Mosses & Liverworts, Ferns, (Bryophyta, Pteridophyta) –Naked seeds, ie conifers (Gymnospermophyta) –Seeds enclosed in an ovary – flowering plants (Angiospermophyta) Montana prairies do include some lichens and mosses, but not ferns (club moss, horsetail, royal fern), unlike UNDERC-East.

Prairie Plants = Flowering Plants Flowering plants include flowers, grasses, deciduous trees. What makes the distinction? Angiosperms are split into 2 classes of plants: those with one seed leaf or Monocotyledoneae; those with 2 seed leaves or Dicotyledoneae. Is your plant a monocot or dicot?

Monocots vs Dicots Dicotyledon class: two seed leaves netted veins tap roots floral parts mostly in 4’s and 5’s Monocotyledon Class: one seed leaf parallel veins horizontal rootstalks floral parts mostly in 3’s

IF A MONOCOT Then, is the plant a monocot with showy flowers? –Examples – Lily family, Iris family, Orchid family Or, is the plant a monocot with non-showy flowers? –Examples – Grass, Sedge, Rush are only families appearing grasslike. Other aquatic families – cattail, pondweed, etc.

IF A DICOT Dicots account for many families with the Aster family as one of the largest. –Aster family is the largest family of flowering plants in the northern latitudes – 346 genera and 2,687 species in US & Canada. Then, is your dicot plant a member of the Aster family? –Most complex – “sepals” are bracts (ie artichokes), disk flowers and ray flowers –Example – dandelion has only ray flowers

Composites - Asteraceae

IF DICOT IS NOT ASTERACEAE If there is a flower - make notes on number of sepals, petals, and stamens. Remember the order from outside to inside – Sepals, Petals, Stamens, Pistil in middle – flower parts occur in rings. Note whether flowers are regular or irregular Are sepals united or separate Notice position of leaves – ie alternate, opposite, basal or whorled

Keys to Dicot Flowers Regular dicot flowers with numerous petals –Cactus, bitterroot Irregular dicot flowers –Teasel, pea, toadflax, penstemon, mint, Indian paintbrush Regular dicot flowers with 3 or 0 petals –Spurge (eg poinsetta ) Regular dicot flowers with 4 petals –Phlox, plantain, harebell, dogwood Regular dicot flowers with 5 united petals –Borage (Gromwell), morning glory Regular dicot flowers with 5 separate petals –Rose, St Johnswort, Dianthus, Geranium

Using keys to plants Variety of keys Some based on colors of flowers Some technical Regardless, important to keep in mind some basics – that is, keys help narrow down your choices by elimination For example, the following key to get to grasses versus forbs:

Some examples of prairie dicots: Beebalm, Butter and eggs, yellowbell, Indian paintbrush, Dianthus

Arrowleaf BalsamrootBitterroot Balsamorhiza sagittata Lewisia sp Lupine -Lupinus sp.

Artemisia frigida Artemisia ludoviciana Artemisia dracunculus SAGES Asteraceae

4 major North American graminoid plant families: Typhaceae - cattail (plants 3-6’ tall, flower spike 1” thick and 4-12” long) Juncaceae – rush (flowers not enclosed in chaff-like bracts) – “lilies turned to grass” Poaceae – grass (stems hollow, round; leaves wrapped around stem; leaves in 2 rows) Cyperaceae – sedge (stems solid, triangular; leaf bases forming tubes about the stem; leaves in 3 rows) – “sedges have edges”

On to grasses … Grasslands would not be … without grasses – Agrostology = study of grasses Grasses are flowering plants, but the flowers lack showy petals and sepals - seeds are wind-pollinated Grasses are in the family Poaceae Subdivided into 15 Tribes

15 major North American grass Tribes Triticeae: Agropyron, Elymus, Eremopyrum, Hordeum, Secale, Taeniatherum, and Triticum. Aveneae: Agrostis, Alopecurus, Avena, Beckmannia, Calamogrostis, Deschampsia, Helictotrichon, Hierochloe, Holcus, Koeleria, Phalaris, Phleum, Polypogon, Trisetum, and Ventenata. Stipeae: Stipa and Oryzopsis. Meliceae: Catabrosa, Glyceria, and Melica. *Poeae: Bromus, Dactylis, Festuca, Lolium, Poa, Puccinellia, and Vulpia. Andropogoneae: Andropogon, Sorghum, and Zea. Paniceae: Cenchrus, Dichanthelium, Digitaria, Echinochloa, Panicum, Paspalum, Pennisetum, and Setaria. Chlorideae: Bouteloua, Buchloe, Cynodon, Eleusine, Schedonnardus, and Spartina. Aeluropodeae: Distichlis. Eragrosteae: Calamovilfa, Eragrostis, Muhlenbergia, Munroa, and Sporobolus. Aristideae: Aristida. Arundineae: Arundo, Cortaderia, and Phragmites. Danthonieae: Danthonia. Oryzeae: Leersia, Oryza, and Zizania. Bambuseae: Arundinaria.

Grass Terminology – Parts of a grass plant Leaf = sheath and blade joined by ligule Floret = flower is inside the: –lemma (outer bract) and –palea (inside bract) Spikelet = floret(s) along rachilla (central axis) and –lower and upper glumes Forms of Inflorescence: panicle, raceme, spike

Grass Terminology – Parts of a grass plant Leaf = sheath and blade joined by ligule Floret = flower is inside the lemma (outer bract) and palea (inside bract) Spikelet = floret(s) along rachilla (central axis) and lower and upper glumes Forms of Inflorescence: panicle, raceme, spike

R. Pohl: How to Know the Grasses A. Chase: First Book of Grasses

Ligules (left and ctr) Auricles (rt)

Grass Terminology – Parts of a grass plant Leaf = sheath and blade joined by ligule Floret = flower is inside the lemma (outer bract) and palea (inside bract) Spikelet = floret(s) along rachilla (central axis) and lower and upper glumes Forms of Inflorescence: panicle, raceme, spike

Grass floret Grass spikelet (generalized)

AWNS – protruding midrib of a lemma or glume; lateral nerves rarely produce awns (Pohl 1954) FLOWERS – stamens

Comparison of forb to grass showing parts of spikelet

Avena Lolium Bromus japonicus Festuca

Grass Terminology – Parts of a grass plant Leaf = sheath and blade joined by ligule Floret = flower is inside the lemma (outer bract) and palea (inside bract) Spikelet = floret(s) along rachilla (central axis) and lower and upper glumes Forms of Inflorescence: panicle, raceme, spike

Panicle Raceme Spike Forms of Inflorescence

Panicle - pedicel Poa pratensis Festuca idahoensis

Koeleria macranthaBromus tectorum

Spike - sessile

Grass showing panicle inflorescence, Yarrow

TOOLS for ID: KEYS and PICTURES Interactive grass “weed” key on web: es posted by Kevin Bradley, Post-doc, VPI. es Grass vegetative key with pictures Common Weed Seedlings of Michigan - simple vegetative key for grasses and broadleaf weeds with pictures 3.htm#key 3.htm#key

TOOLS for ID: KEYS and PICTURES (continued) "Grasses of Montana" by M. Lavin and C. Seibert (Feb 2009). grass.pdf grass.pdf National Plant Data Center – polyclave key mono.html mono.html