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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GRASS FAMILY | |||||||||
| The grass family is economically
and ecologically important. Many of the world’s crops are products
of the grasses. In addition, grasses are represented in almost all terrestrial
ecosystems and are an important part of the natural food chain. The grasses have a set of structures unique to the family. These plants can be annual or perennial and are usually herbaceous. The roots are fibrous, but rhizomes or runners may be found in some species. The stems are solitary or tufted, and may be branched. The stems are round with hollow internodes and solid nodes. The leaves are basal or on the stem. The stem leaves are 2-ranked, meaning they are in two vertical rows and are sheathing at the base. A ligule is present where the leaf sheath and the blade meet. The florets are in spikelets which are then arranged into clusters called spikes, racemes, or panicles. The spikelets usually have two glumes at the base and may be one to several-flowered. Sometimes there are sterile florets, which may consist only of the palea and lemma, present above or below the fertile florets. The florets are usually perfect, meaning that they have both male and female parts. The lemma and palea are the two bracts that subtend each floret. The lemma may be awnless or awned from the tip or the back. Each fertile floret has between one and three stamens and one superior ovary with a feathery stigma. The fruit type is a caryopsis or grain and is unique to the grass family. |
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| FOWL MANNAGRASS | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Glyceria canadensis | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Fowl mannagrass grows to 150 cm tall from a long rhizome. The stems are erect, but may be curved at the base. The leaves are long and flat. The flowers in this species are in branched, pyramidal clusters. Each spikelet has two to ten flowers. The glumes are 1-veined and are oval to rectangular in shape. The lemmas are 2 to 4 mm long and the veins are not prominently raised. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Fowl mannagrass grows in damp or wet soil along shores. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in east-central Saskatchewan in the Mid-Boreal Lowland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Fowl mannagrass is endangered because of extreme rarity in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted in the province and is almost always locally sparse. Immediate or probable threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY FOWL MANNAGRASS | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves long and flat? * Do the spikelets contain between two and ten flowers? * Are the glumes 1-nerved? * Did you find it in east-central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found fowl mannagrass! | |||||||||
