Biodiversity of the Central Coast
  • Biodiversity of the Central Coast - Home
  • About the Central Coast
    • Location
    • Communities
    • Environment >
      • Hakai Institute weather stations and webcams
    • Visitors
  • Species Guide
    • Plants >
      • Woody Vascular Plants >
        • Trees
        • Shrubs
      • Non-woody Vascular Plants >
        • Wildflowers
        • Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes
        • Ferns, Horsetails, Clubmosses, and more
      • Non-vascular Plants >
        • Mosses and Liverworts
        • Lichens
    • Fungi and Slime Molds
    • Seaweeds (Algae) and Seagrasses >
      • Red Seaweeds
      • Brown Seaweeds
      • Green Seaweeds
      • Seagrasses
      • All Seaweeds and Seagrasses
    • Birds >
      • Waterbirds and Shorebirds
      • Songbirds
      • Birds of Prey
      • Woodpeckers and Hummingbirds
      • Other Birds
      • All Birds
    • Land Animals >
      • Land Invertebrates
      • Amphibians and Reptiles
      • Land Mammals
    • Marine Animals >
      • Marine Invertebrates >
        • Bryozoans
        • Echinoderms
        • Cnidarians
        • Crustaceans
        • Molluscs
        • Sponges
        • Tunicates
        • Marine Worms
      • Fish
      • Marine Mammals
      • All Marine Animals
    • Species At Risk
    • All Species
  • Identification Resources
  • Research
  • Media and Links
  • Resources for Educators
  • Gallery
  • About This Site
    • Acknowledgements
    • Contact and Contribute

Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes

These three groups are listed together for ease of identification, as they are all grass-like in appearance. Though this site groups them separately from the other vascular flowering plants, they are actually vascular and do produce their own kind of flower. 

The following rhyme can help identify in which category a grass-like species belongs: 

'Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have knees that bend to the ground.' 
The 'knees' of grasses are joint-like nodes found along round, hollow stems. The stems of sedges and rushes are solid; in cross-section the stems of rushes are round, while those of sedges are triangular and so have edges.

Also listed here are other vascular plant species that may appear grass-like at certain times of the year.

Jump to: Grasses • Sedges • Rushes

Grasses

Dunegrass  (Elymus mollis)

Dunegrass 
(Elymus mollis)

Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata)

Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata)

Common  velvet-grass  (Holcus lanatus)

Common 
velvet-grass 
(Holcus lanatus)

Tufted hairgrass (Deschamspia cespitosa)

Tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa)

Nodding trisetum (Trisetum cernuum)

Nodding trisetum (Trisetum cernuum)

Red fescue (Festuca rubra)

Red fescue (Festuca rubra)

Nootka reedgrass (Calamagrostis nutkaensis)

Nootka reedgrass (Calamagrostis nutkaensis)

Dune bluegrass (Poa macrantha)

Dune bluegrass (Poa macrantha)

Western panicgrass (Dichanthelium acuminatum)

Western panicgrass (Dichanthelium acuminatum)


Sedges

Kellogg's sedge (Carex kellogii)

Kellogg's sedge (Carex kellogii)

Several-flowered sedge  (Carex pluriflora)

Several-flowered sedge 
(Carex pluriflora)

Slough sedge (Carex obnupta)

Slough sedge (Carex obnupta)

Few-flowered sedge  (Carex pauciflora)

Few-flowered sedge 
(Carex pauciflora)

Pale sedge  (Carex livida)

Pale sedge 
(Carex livida)

White beak-rush (Rhychospora alba)

White beak-rush (Rhychospora alba)

Narrow-leaved cotton-grass (Eriophorum angustifolium)

Narrow-leaved cotton-grass (Eriophorum angustifolium)

Tufted clubrush (Trichophorum cespitosum)

Tufted clubrush (Trichophorum cespitosum)

Chamisso's cotton-grass (Eriophorum chamissonis)

Chamisso's cotton-grass (Eriophorum chamissonis)


Rushes

Common rush (Juncus effusus)

Common rush (Juncus effusus)

Bog rush  (Juncus stygius)

Bog rush 
(Juncus stygius)

Baltic rush  (Juncus balticus)

Baltic rush 
(Juncus balticus)

Merten's rush (Juncus mertensianus)

Merten's rush (Juncus mertensianus)


Other grass-like plants

Shore blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium idahoense var. littorale)

Shore blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium idahoense var. littorale)

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture