Elymus canadensis: friend of the inexperienced botanist.

Abstract

When most botany students find out they have to learn how to identify grasses, their breathing quickens and their palms begin to sweat. Or, they at least slightly regret their decision to take a botany course including Poaceae, the grass family. To them, all the grasses look the same at first glance. The student botanist has difficulties keeping glumes straight from lemmas, and often at the end of the class period, he or she walks away feeling a little overwhelmed and slightly confused. Fortunately for such students there exist grasses such as Elymus canadensis, which are relatively easy to identify.