By Sonia Uyterhoeven
Grasses have nodes from the top to the ground.
A few weeks ago, (click here) I was displaying some grasses and sedges for a home gardening demonstration when a woman asked me what the difference is between the two. Naturally, there are anatomical and sometimes cultural differences (always generalizations) between these similar plants, however, they are often categorized together and thought of as the same. To help clarify the differences, we will begin with a useful mnemonic:
Sedges have edges,
Rushes are round,Grasses have nodes from the top to the ground.
Grasses and bamboos are in the Graminaceae family, sedges are in the Cyperaceae family, and rushes are in the Juncaceae family. When you look at a grass or sedge, what you see are the stems, leaves, and flowers. And in the case of this explanation, the stems are referred to as culms....
........................................................................................................................................................
Calamagrostis (click here) comes from the Greek kalamos (reed) and agrostis (a kind of grass), hence the common name “reed grass.”
Other grasses share the common name of “reed” grass. For example, Arundo donax is called Giant Reed and is used for making reeds in musical instruments, Phalaris arundinacea, known as Reed Canary Grass, is a marsh plant that spreads by rhizomes. Grasses within Calamagrostis are sometimes referred to as “small reed.”
The most famous member of Calamagrostis is C. x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’. When it was discovered in the Hamburg Botanical Garden in the 1930s, this lovely grass was believed to be a variation of C. epigejos (C. epigejos ‘Hortorum’)....
