Grasses, Sedges, Rushes: An Identification Guide

Although this is a reissue of a book first published in 1979 it is still as useful today as it was when first published. The printing and binding of the book is excellent, as one would expect from Yale university press. Beautiful color photos are accompanied by excellent pen and ink drawings. The paper is very high quality which makes the book a pleasure to hold and read. I think that more people today are interested in grasses and sedges than when the book was first published. Many people now are doing tall grass prairie restoration and planting and need to know how to identify grasses, I know that is the case for me. This book clarifies grass ID without over simplifying it. The identification scheme is extremely useful and clear.

Lauren's original edition really filled a void for a non-technical introduction to identifying eastern grasses and grass-like plants. The new edition adds photos to the earlier drawings, updates the botanical names and adds only a little more info. There still isn't anything better to at least get close to the right name for the more common species, and next step is still a dissecting microscope and a technical manual full of specialized terminology.

4/5 because I was really excited to buy this and when I wasn't seeing several very common sedges/rushes I got to looking and saw the map in the beginning near the introduction. I wish that would have been part of the cover or details or that I had looked through that excerpt provided. Who wouldn't want to just buy this right off the press though?! It's informative and has good drawings but I'll have to find another field guide to pair it with.

I did not see what area this book covered when reading the product description, maybe I’m blind? This book covers the Midwest of the US, which isn’t really useful for a botanist in Florida. Regardless this is a 5 star book for the sheer craftsmanship of the binding, flexible cover, and neat editing. Even if I can’t use this book, the introduction and supplementary text has interested me in visiting the grasslands of the Midwest in the future!

I had the book from the 70’s and recently signed up for a webinar with the author and it was recommended I buy this version otherwise it might be hard to follow along. The new version has color photographs and a sturdy cover with a ruler printed on it - so I’m glad I bought it!

This is a beautiful revision of Brown's original Grasses book. The addition of the color photos of the plants in their habitats is tremendously helpful alongside Brown's exquisite line drawings. Convenient trim size makes it easy to use in the field. Well worth the expense!

Very informative and good illustration. Has cultural blurbs for graminoids that colonized the northeast Americas. I use it when i question plants on a trail or park.

I have been looking for a book like this for ages. Love the fact that there is info on the plants, drawings and most of all good pictures for identifying the plants. Love the flexible cover too.