poaceae Archives - Lizzie Harper

Grasses of Montserrat and the Eastern Caribbean

Posted on 6th November 2025 in Botany: Telling species apart, Showcase of themed natural history illustrations

I was recently commissioned to illustrate some common grasses of Montserrat and the Eastern Caribbean by UKOTCF. As regular readers will know, this is something of a dream job for me. I first illustrated grasses way back in 2014, for the HarperCollins Flower Guide by David Streeter. Not knowing that I was planting the seeds […] Read more

Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus natural history illustration by Lizzie Harper

Common Grass species identification: Some easy shortcuts

Posted on 14th July 202322nd September 2023 in Botany: Telling species apart

As you may have noticed, I’m rather obsessed with grasses, and have blogged on them often. From an introduction, to learning about them, to celebrating their beauty , discussing the ecological significance of Maram grass (guest blog), and more recently, to telling them from Rushes and sedges And, of course, I do botanical illustrations of […] Read more

Sedges, Grasses and Rushes: Telling the families apart

Posted on 1st July 2022 in Botany: Telling species apart

I recently went on another excellent FSC course, this time on identifying grasses (other grass courses by FSC available here). One of the first things to do is to figure out what makes a grass a grass, and not some other plant. In most cases, it’s sedges and rushes that can lead to confusion, so […] Read more

Grass: An introduction

Posted on 7th June 201814th January 2019 in botanical terms

Grasses (Poaceae) are one of my favourite botanical illustration subjects. I adore drawing and painting them. I have written a blog on my passion for this family of plants before. However, I wanted to take another look at the way grasses are put together. I also want to introduce beginners to basic grass anatomy and terminology. This […] Read more

Inspirations: The C4 Rice Project

Posted on 28th November 20146th December 2018 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

At a recent IAPI meeting on grasses (Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration) we learnt about a really inspiring project from Peter Mitchell. This important project is run by John Sheehy at the International Rice Research Institute, and is trying to make rice use a carbon 4 system rather than a carbon 3 one. This is the C4 Rice Project, which […] Read more

Grass Class

Posted on 21st November 20146th December 2018 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

Scientific illustration often involves hours of sitting alone, staring at plants through a hand lens. Getting out, especially spending time with like minded people who share your interests is a tonic. IAPI organise a Grasses day out IAPI (the institute for analytical plant illustration) is a fabulous organisation for botanists, botanical illustrators, and anyone interested in these […] Read more

Grass, botanical illustration, sciart, graminaceae, grasses

Glorious grasses

Posted on 21st June 201315th November 2018 in botanical terms

I have always loved grasses. Even as a child I marvelled at their different heights, shapes, and textures. I love the way fields of grass move and rustle in the wind, and I love the smell of new mown grass (it’s caused by green leaf volatiles (GLVs) and is actually a distress call from the […] Read more

Grasses workshop, a poppy, and a stonechat

Posted on 12th November 201218th October 2018 in Current projects and news

Grasses Botanical illustration workshop The grasses workshop with Hereford Botanical Art Group went really well. There were 15 students, all experienced and informed, and most importantly enthusiastic. Having scoured wasteland and hedgerows, and begged for supplies from a farmer friend; I’d collated rather a fine of late flowering grasses. Rye grass, wheat, Cock’s foot, wild […] Read more