Getting the Most Out of QGIS and GRASS Integration - Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools - page 209

Figure 12.8: GRASS browser in QGIS
with a number, followed by the feature type. Using the browser gives
you a quick overview of your maps and layers, as well as some detailed
information about the number of features and the history of the map.
Let's take a look at the toolbar in the browser because it has a number
of useful functions for working with and managing our maps.
The first tool is the Add selected map to canvas tool. Its purpose seems
pretty obvious—you select a map and click the tool, and it gets added to
the map canvas in QGIS. What gets added depends on what you have
selected in the list of maps and layers. If you have a map selected, for
example, Cities , and click Add selected map to canvas , all the layers under
Cities will be added. This means the point, line, and polygon layers get
added as separate layers in QGIS, and we will have three entries in the
legend. If you had selected just the polygon layer of the Cities map, only
it would be added. This feature gives you a quick way to add every layer
for a map or to be more discriminating and add only the particular layer
you need.