St George’s Church – EcoChurch

Grasses of St George’s  churchyard.

On Tuesday 11 June a survey of the grasses growing in the churchyard was carried out.

The grass had been strimmed some weeks before so the grasses had been able to regrow to a good height, producing spikelets containing a stigma and anthers.

The grasses were identified, as accurately as possible, using the booklet Grasses of Lewisham (London Borough of Lewisham) and Britain’s wildlife, plants and flowers (Reader’s Digest, 1987).

In Britain about 160 species may be found, favouring various different conditions. They are important because they are nutritious: barley, oats, rice, maize, wheat, millet are staple foods for many people. While in this country grass cannot be used directly as human food because it is too fibrous, farmers rely on it to feed cattle, sheep and other animals.

Grasses found in St George’s Churchyard include:

perennial rye grass, cock’s foot, brome grass, false oat-grass, meadow barley, wavy hair grass, meadow foxtail, fescue, and various species of meadow grass.