An article about the grasses of Sant Llorenç del Munt (Barcelona)

In number 12 (year 2022) of the scientific journal Nemus, has been published, on pages 64-86, an article (in Catalan language) written by me, entitled "Catàleg actualitzat i claus d'identificació de les gramínies de Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac (Barcelona).

This is the summary: "Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac is the name given to two massifs located between the counties of el Vallès Occidentaland el Bages, in the province of Barcelona (Catalonia). A large part of this territory corresponds to the Parc Natural de Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac, which has an area of 137 square kilometers. The highest point is La Mola (1,103 m). In the southern part there are Paleozoic schists and vulcanites, as well as a granitic intrusion and a strip of Triassic materials. However, most of the massifs are of Eocene conglomerates. The climate is Mediterranean, with hot summers and mild winters. Rainfall is concentrated in spring and, specially, in autumn. In terms of vegetation, woods of holm oak predominate, often mixed with pine and sometimes with oak. Shrubs, dry meadows and rock-dwelling plants are also common. The flora, basically Mediterranean, is very rich, with more than a thousand species. With regard to grasses or Poaceae, it should be emphasized that this is one of the most important families of Phanerogams, with more than 11,000 species identified, and to which cereals, the basis of both the human and livestock food chain, belong. They are almost always herbaceous plants. The leaves are narrow with parallel nerves. The flowers are usually hermaphrodites, with three stamens and two feathery stigmas, but instead of a perianth they have a lemma and a palea at the base. One or more flowers are grouped in a spikelet, which bears two glumes at the base. The spikelets, in turn, are grouped into spikes, racemes or panicles. The fruit is a caryopsis. The methodology in the study of grasses consists of observing the plant in nature and also examining it at home or in the laboratory, using a hand-lens or a dissecting microscope. Specialized studies require other techniques. In many cases it is important to dry and press the plants for conservation in herbarium. Grasses were the least known plants in Sant Llorenç del Munt and l’Obac, the knowledge of which that has now expanded enormously. The results of this study have been the preparation of an updated and annotated catalogue of 107 species (five of which with two subspecies in the area), and the realization of dichotomous identification keys, an important working tool for future research".

This is the link to the original article in Catalan language: http://ateneudenatura.uji.es/Nemus/Nemus12/hernandez_graminies%20pp%2064-86.pdf

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