Sejarah Poaceae (Volume 2)

The Story of Grasses – Grasslands and Grassy Open Ecosystems

  • Defining Grasses: The Amazing Awns of Grasses

    Defining Grasses: The Amazing Awns of Grasses

    If one were in the habit of identifying grasses, then the presence of visible and distinctive structures on the spikelets would be one way to ease the pain of such an endeavor. Fortunately, many grasses have long projections from these reproductive structures that go a long way towards helping the observer. These so-called awns are…

  • The Story of Java

    The Story of Java

    This is not an article about grasses. Instead, I just wanted to give my whole hearted thanks to the people who helped develop the programming language that later grew into the vast and diverse ecosystem that is the Java world today. Java now is ubiquitous. If you watch Netflix, Java is the backend that makes…

  • The irony of Bermuda

    The irony of Bermuda

    It seems ironic that the namesake of the cosmopolitan Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) is actually bereft of any native grasses at all. We visited the island of Bermuda earlier this month, and the first grass I encountered at the cruise dock was….wait for it…bermudagrass! Although C. dactylon is actually native to the old world, it picked…

  • Flowering Buffaloes

    Flowering Buffaloes

    More than two years after I discovered and marveled over the legendary Bouteloua dactyloides (buffalo grass) that had escaped into the lawns of Rutgers University, I visited again in June 2026, and this time found them flowering. The last time I saw them, it was easy to tell them apart from the rest of the…

  • What is a “sidewalk prairie” or “sidewalk grassland”?

    What is a “sidewalk prairie” or “sidewalk grassland”?

    In my mind, a “sidewalk prairie” (or “sidewalk grassland”) refers to the one or two strips of grassy areas that border a sidewalk, with one being towards the street, and the other fronting some other landscaping, such as a wall or taller shrubs and trees. This was something I was thinking about during a morning…

  • Hiking Quito and the Páramo at Rucu Pichincha, Ecuador (and a farewell to the Galapagos)

    Hiking Quito and the Páramo at Rucu Pichincha, Ecuador (and a farewell to the Galapagos)

    Gracias al Dr. Aníbal Prina, Dr. Paúl Gonzáles y Dra. Ana Mireya Guerrero por su invaluable ayuda en la identificación. After almost two weeks going from island to island in the Galapagos, it was finally time to fly on to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Although we flew into the Galapagos via the San Cristobal…