Manual of the Grasses of the United States, Volume One: Volume 1

When you can't find grasses in other books, this is one of the more comprehensive grass books. This is a must have for anyone who has to identify plants anywhere in the US.

As a botany student any publication by Hitchcock is the best. Only comment is that there is additional vital data in the second volume which I was not aware of until I was in the throws of identifying some grasses!! That being said Vol 2 is on my wish list. - It is a very nice supplement to Flora of the Pacific Northwest.

The two volume set published by Dover is a reprint of A.S. Hitchcock's 1950 Manual of the Grasses (2nd Ed.). But don't let that fool you. Perhaps some names have changed in the last 50 years, but the grasses remain the same. Here is one of the greatest sources of informaton on US grasses in the most compact form that can be found anywhere: descriptons, illustrations, distribution (which may be more of historic value than current), and, in the case of many exotics, history of introductions. There's even a synonymy. Yes, you'll need a current manual, but if you are interested in grasses in the US, then Hitchcock belongs on your shelf, too.