Grasses - Biology Of Grasses, Native Grasses Of North America, Grasses In Agriculture, Wheats, Maize Or Corn
Grasses are monocotyledonous plants in the family Poaceae (also known as Gramineae). There are as many as 10,000 species of grasses distributed among more than 600 genera. The richest genera of grasses are the panic-grasses (Panicum spp.) with 400 species, the bluegrasses (Poa spp.) and love-grasses (Eragrostis spp.) with 300 species each, and the needle-grasses (Stipa spp.) with 200 species.
Species of grasses occur worldwide in virtually any habitats that are capable of supporting vascular plants. Grasses are the dominant species in some types of natural vegetation such as prairies and steppes, and they are an important source of forage for many species of herbivorous animals. Some species of grasses are grown as agricultural crops, and these are among the most important foods for humans and domestic livestock. The most important of the agricultural grasses are maize, wheat, rice, sorghum, barley, and sugar cane.
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Most grasses are annual plants or are herbaceous perennials that die back to the ground surface at the end of the growing season and then regenerate the next season by shoots developing from underground rhizome or root systems. A few species, such as the bamboos, develop as shrub- and tree-sized, woody plants. The shoots of grasses typically have swollen nodes, or bases, and they are often hollow …
Hundreds of species of grasses are native to North America. Native grasses are present in virtually all habitats, and they are among the most dominant plants in prairies, some types of marshes, and similar, herbaceous types of vegetation. In addition, many species of grasses have been introduced by humans from elsewhere, especially from western Eurasia. Although many rich varieties of form and fun…
In terms of the economic and nutritional values of foods provided for humans and domestic livestock, no other plant family is as important as the grasses. All of the important cereals and grains are members of the grass family, and some of these agronomic species have been cultivated for thousands of years. There are useful cereal species available for all of the climatic zones in which humans com…
The bread wheat (Triticum aestivum or T. vulgare) is a very important grain species. The origins of the modern bread wheat are somewhat uncertain, because this species occurs in many hybrid varieties which have been selectively bred over time by complex, unrecorded hybridizations of various species of Triticum. Some botanists believe that the major progenitor species was an ancient cultivated whea…
Maize, corn, or mealies (Zea mays) is derived from grasses native to Central America, probably from Mexico. Maize has a very distinctive, flowering structure, with a tassel of male flowers perched above the larger clusters of female flowers. Each of the several female flower clusters is an elongated, head-like structure known as a cob or ear, enclosed within sheathing leaves or bracts, known as hu…
Rice (Oryza sativa) is probably a native of south Asia, and it has been cultivated on that continent for more than 5,000 years. The natural habitat of rice is tropical marshes, but it is now cultivated in a wide range of subtropical and tropical habitats. If rice is being cultivated under flooded conditions, its seeds are germinated, grown until they are about 6-12 in (15-30 cm) tall, and then out…
Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a relatively ancient crop species, having been grown in northeastern Africa and the Middle East for as long as 6,000 years. The environmental conditions favorable to the growth of barley are similar to those for wheat, although barley can be cultivated in somewhat cooler conditions and therefore farther to the north in Eurasia. Most barley is used as feed for domestic a…
Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) is a very tall, tropical grass which can grow as high as 23 ft (7 m), most likely derived from wild plants that grew in marshes in India. The stems or canes of this species can be as thick as 2 in (5 cm), and they have a sweet pith that typically contains 20% of a sugar known as sucrose. The concentration of sugar varies greatly during the life cycle but is great…
Pasture grasses are species that are cultivated as nutritious fodder for agricultural animals such as cattle, sheep, horses, and goats. These grasses are often grown in combination with fodder legumes to provide better nutrition for the livestock. The pasture foods may be eaten directly by the grazing animals, or they may be harvested, baled, dried, and used later as hay. In recent decades, there …
The bamboos (Bambusa spp.) are fast-growing, woody species of grasses. The largest species of bamboos can grow taller than 131 ft (40 m) and can have a diameter of 12 in (30 cm). The most important genera of the larger bamboos are Arundinaria, Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Gigantochloa, and Phyllostachys. These treesized grasses occur in forests and in cultivation in subtropical and tropical parts of th…
Some species of grasses are grown in horticulture as attractive foliage plants. Some varieties have been developed with variegated leaves, that is, with foliage that is mottled with green or white areas. Examples include reed canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea) and bent-grass (Agrostis stolonifera). Various species of bamboos, both large and small, are also cultivated in gardens in climates where …
Some people have developed allergies to grass pollen which can be very abundant in the atmosphere at times when these plants are flowering. Although many wind-pollinated plants contribute to hay fever, grasses are among the most important causes during the early and mid-summer seasons in temperate climates. Some species of grasses may be deemed to be weeds for other reasons. Crabgrasses (Digitaria…
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