Let’s Read: Life Lessons from the World of Grasses

Grasses of East Africa by Dino J. Martins describes 100 species of common, ecologically important or remarkable grasses found in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

Grasses comprise one of the largest plant families on Earth, but are possibly the most overlooked. Yet it is these ubiquitous and important plants that have the greatest impact on our daily lives – providing a wide range of staple foods for humans globally, a fundamental source of grazing for livestock, and food and shelter for an infinite variety of wildlife.

“One of the most wonderful things about being a naturalist in East Africa is the sheer abundance and diversity of life and living things that surrounds us. Growing up in remote, rural areas of Western Kenya, I spent many happy hours watching, listening and learning from the world around me.

Many of my earliest memories are of insects and plants. As I grew up without a television (or social media, thankfully), my childhood was spent exploring the garden, forests and wild spaces wherever I was. In the afternoons after school, I’d go exploring, finding much joy in identifying the animals and plants that were my constant companions.

As I watched and collected insects, I soon learned that many of them lived in close association with plants. One of the earliest discoveries I made was through rearing caterpillars and watching their fat, cylindrical bodies grow and then transform into cryptic or bejewelled pupae and that magical, heart-stopping moment when the chrysalis split open and out squirmed the adult butterflies twitching and slowly unfurling their dazzling wings.

But it was the hidden, mysterious caterpillars who really caught my attention. I quickly learned to spot the distinctive damage they did to leaves, leaving rectangular holes along the leaf-edge from their munching. It was incredibly satisfying to be able to turn over these pleated leaves of grasses to find the camouflaged, hapless caterpillar clinging close beneath. I plucked them off unceremoniously, popped them into old glass jars covered with netting and gathered handfuls of leaves to feed them.

At the time, I didn’t know the names of the different grasses. Since I had no one to teach me about them, nor any books to consult, I developed my own system of classification. Those with the broad, pleated leaves became the ‘fan grasses’ as they reminded me of the pretty, foldable paper fans that we made during arts-and-crafts lessons.

This book includes:

• Clearly laid out and easy-to-use species descriptions
• Beautiful line and watercolour illustrations with labels highlighting notable features
• Full-colour photographs
• A concise introduction covering the economic significance of grasses, their ecology, habitats and conservation.

Grasses of East Africa will prove invaluable to students, scientists, travellers and nature lovers as it aids identification while also highlighting the functions of these important and often beautiful plants.

This article was originally published in The Penguin Post, a magazine about books for book lovers from Penguin Random House South Africa