Melanie Flood, special project botanist, North Carolina Natural Heritage Program

The term “graminoids” refers to three types of monocots — grasses, sedges and rushes. In this course, students will learn the basic morphological differences between graminoids and how to identify some larger genera within each family. The class will begin indoors to learn about the families and examine plant specimens up close under a microscope. Then, participants will take their newfound knowledge outside to the trails of the State Botanical Garden to observe these differences among living plants.