Grass Roots: Their Secret Lives

This chart shows why grazing lands should be allowed to re-wild. What we've often brushed off as "just" weeds are, in fact, a valuable part of our ecosystems.

Left to right across:

• Kentucky Blue Grass
• Lead Plant
• Missouri Goldenrod
• Indian Grass
• Compass Plant
• Porcupine Grass
• Heath Aster
• Prairie Cord Grass
• Big Blue Stem
• Pale Purple Coneflower
• Prairie Stripseed
• Side Oats Grama
• Fake Beetroot
• Switch Grass
• White Wild Indigo
• Little Blue Stem
• RoseWeed ?
• Purple Praire Clover
• June Grass
• Cylindric Blazing Star
• Buffalo Grass

Here's a similar chart for the UK.

• Cocksfoot
• Perennial Ryegrass
• Westerwolds Ryegrass
• Timothy
• Meadow Fescue
• White Clover
• Red Clover
• Persian Clover
• Berseem Clover
• Crimson Clover
• Vetch
• Alsike Clover
• Sweet Clover
• Birdsfoot Trefoil
• Yellow Trefoil
• Sanfoin
• Lucerne
• Chicory
• Ribgrass
• Yarrow
• Burnet
• Sheep's Parsley
• Mustard
• Buckwheat
• Tillage Radish
• Phacella
• Fodder Radish
• Oat
• Rye

The more diverse the plants, the more diverse the other interactive and supporting species and the healthier the soil. The longer the roots, the more stable the earth becomes, providing some insurance during drought or flood conditions. The more and the longer roots are, the more carbon they store and the more nutrients they provide for the fungi and microorganisms of the surrounding earth.