A new Web site offers photographs, habitat information and other details about more than 100 species of Mississippi aquatic and wetlands plants. The site, http://jcho.masgc.org, contains original, full-color photos that show plant details that can help scientists and plant enthusiasts distinguish similar species.
“The site boasts the inclusion of plants that are notorious for their hard-to-identify characteristics including 14 Eleocharis species and 12 Juncus species,” said Hyun Jung “J.” Cho, an assistant professor at Jackson State University.
A limited number of field guide books have been printed, and interested people should contact John Grigsby at the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium [email protected]) or Cho at Jackson State University ([email protected]).
The Web site and books are the result of field surveys conducted in various wetlands and aquatic habitats in the state between 2007 and 2009. The field surveys were supported by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, the Center for University Scholars at Jackson State University, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center in support of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance.