The grass family, known scientifically as the Poaceae or Gramineae
(both names are correct) is one of the four largest families of flowering
plants with approximately 500 genera and 10,000 species. Grasses
range from tiny inconspicuous herbs less than 5 cm tall to the giant bamboos
that grow to 40 m tall. The family is undoubtedly the most important
flowering plant family to humans, directly or indirectly providing more
than 3/4 of our food as well as being a major producer of oxygen and a
large component of environmental filtering processes due to the enormous
geographic range, spatial coverage and biomass of grasses on earth.
Grasses are the greatest single source of wealth in the world.
Where the Grasses Fit Into the Tree of Life
Some examples from each subfamily
Related Groups
The Clades of Grasses
Morphology and Vegetative Characters
Fertile Characters
Thumbnail Sketches of the Groups and Genera
in FL