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Rating: 
Summary: Useable, but flawed
Review: As another review noted the range of this book is limited, from Minnesota to Kentucky and Maryland south, and north to Maine, although some of the grasses are more widespread. The copyright date is 1979 and while that does not disqualify it, it has not been updated. It suffers from 1) poor reproduction of the line drawings which are supposedly "as beautiful as they are exact" - they aren't either in this edition, being too small and with line details running together to show nothing but a black blob in many cases, and 2) no photographs, which I have come to expect of any decent field guide nowadays (especially in the absence of GOOD line drawings!). Also, the grasses are organized "by visual similarity, not always by taxonomic grouping." I'd prefer the latter.On the plus side it has a useable key and often interesting information is presented for a species. I'll keep this book, but I would have bought something else had I known!
Rating:
Summary: Useable, but flawed
Review: As another review noted the range of this book is limited, from Minnesota to Kentucky and Maryland south, and north to Maine, although some of the grasses are more widespread. The copyright date is 1979 and while that does not disqualify it, it has not been updated. It suffers from 1) poor reproduction of the line drawings which are supposedly "as beautiful as they are exact" - they aren't either in this edition, being too small and with line details running together to show nothing but a black blob in many cases, and 2) no photographs, which I have come to expect of any decent field guide nowadays (especially in the absence of GOOD line drawings!). Also, the grasses are organized "by visual similarity, not always by taxonomic grouping." I'd prefer the latter. On the plus side it has a useable key and often interesting information is presented for a species. I'll keep this book, but I would have bought something else had I known!
Rating: 
Summary: Best field gudie to grasses in East, Midwest.
Review: I am a prairie biologist. I find this book to be the best in helping botanical amateurs (and some experts) identify common grasses. Use it only to find the species of a grass, not its ecology. Grasses are hard to identify. This book helps alot.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for Beginners
Review: I am also a biologist, and was not particularly thrilled with the book. The drawings are decent, but the amateur key used to limit your choices is too amateur. The distribution of covered species is strictly for the Northeastern U.S., except for the occasional wide-spread grasses. If your not in the Northeast, another guide would be more benefical.
Rating:
Summary: Good only for the Northeast
Review: I am also a biologist, and was not particularly thrilled with the book. The drawings are decent, but the amateur key used to limit your choices is too amateur. The distribution of covered species is strictly for the Northeastern U.S., except for the occasional wide-spread grasses. If your not in the Northeast, another guide would be more benefical.
Rating:
Summary: Identification guide to Northeastern species
Review: Introduction to grasses in the Northeast USA. Most descriptive pictures are of flowers only that are good for identification purposes but of limited usefullness of how the grass typically grows. How the grass fits into the larger ecosystem is not included Identification drawings lead you to pages where you are likely to find the full description.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Beginners
Review: This has got to be best "first book" generally available for anyone with the least passing interest in wild plants to buy and use to discover the spectacular world of sedges and rushes, as well as grasses, especially if you are thinking about looking more carefully at wild plants in the northeast. It marked--and sparked-- the very beginning of my own personal interest in botany, guided my first field trips into the New Jersey Pine Barrens, led me to a botanical club and courses in sedge identification, and ultimately opened up the world of botany to me. I was so excited I wanted to call the author and thank her for writing this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Beginners
Review: This has got to be best "first book" generally available for anyone with the least passing interest in wild plants to buy and use to discover the spectacular world of sedges and rushes, as well as grasses, especially if you are thinking about looking more carefully at wild plants in the northeast. It marked--and sparked-- the very beginning of my own personal interest in botany, guided my first field trips into the New Jersey Pine Barrens, led me to a botanical club and courses in sedge identification, and ultimately opened up the world of botany to me. I was so excited I wanted to call the author and thank her for writing this book.
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