Grasses, Legumes and Forbs of the Eastern United States Identification and Adaptation

About this book

This book  provides a description of the most common grasses, legumes and non-leguminous forbs of the Eastern United States. It covers many of the most important grassland, turf and non-crop plants and their seeds. Unlike many publications that include plant identification, this book emphasizes vegetative identification. Most plants flower for a relative short period; so the person in the field is frequently faced with identifying a plant without a flower and Grasses, Legumes and Forbs of the Eastern United States facilitates that identification need.

Also included are floral identification as this method can be definitive and can sometimes greatly simplify the identification process. The hundreds of color photographs and other illustrations are important for these determinations. Grasses, Legumes and Forbs of the Eastern United States covers 23 forage legumes, 61 grasses and more than 100 non leguminous forbs found in pastures and grasslands of Eastern US. Besides identification of important species, it describes other key characteristics such as adaptation, favorable and unfavorable soil types, seasonal growth patterns, toxicity, etc. For plants harvested for hay or silage or by grazing, there is discussion of cutting and grazing management, quality factors, and potential yields.

Contents

Part I: Legumes
Part II: Grasses and Sedges
Part III.  Non-Leguminous Forbs
Part IV: Forbs

Appendix I. Poisonous plants
Appendix II. Plant ID at a glance
Index by scientific and common names

Customer Reviews

Biography

Ozzie Abaye is a professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences and has been at Virginia Tech since 1987. While Abaye finds teaching extremely rewarding, the aspect of her position that she prizes the most is her interaction with advisees. As an advisor, Abaye strives to foster independence and personal responsibility. She encourages students to study abroad and has been actively involved in developing these programs. Abaye also coaches the Crops Judging Team, which gives students experience in evaluating seed and grain quality and in identifying crops, weeds, and crop diseases. Abaye’s research focus, which also strongly supports her Extension efforts, has been on alternative crops and incorporation of animals into sustainable systems.