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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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| WOLF’S TRISETUM | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Trisetum wolfii | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Wolf’s trisetum can grow to be 100 cm tall. The roots are fibrous and a short rhizome may be present. The stems are erect and may be hairy below the nodes. The leaves are mainly inserted on the lower third of the stem. The leaf blades are 5 to 15 cm long and 2 to 5 mm wide. The inflorescence is branched but linear in shape. The spikelets are green, tan, or purplish and are two-flowered. The lemmas have a very short awn or are awnless. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| In Saskatchewan, Wolf’s trisetum grows in moist, grassy ravines and sloughs. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Wolf’s trisetum is endangered because of extreme rarity in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted in the province and is almost always locally sparse. Possible threats have been identified for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY WOLF’S TRISETUM | |||||||||
| * Does the lemma have a very short awn or is the
awn absent? * Are the stems hairy below the nodes? * Is the inflorescence narrow? * Did you find in the Cypress Hills? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found Wolf’s trisetum! | |||||||||
