ABOUT GRASSES

Economically the grass family is of far greater importance than any other. The cereal grasses, e.g.wheat, rice, corn, oats, barley, and rye, provide the grain that is the staple food of most of mankind and the major type of feed. The grasses also include most of the hay and pasture plants, e.g., sorghum, orchard grass, and fescue. Molasses and sugar are products of sugarcane and sorghum, both grasses. Many types of liquor are made from grains and molasses. Plants of the grass family are also a source of industrial ethyl alcohol, corn starch and by-products, newsprint and other types of paper, and numerous lesser items. Especially in the tropics, species of reed, bamboo (one of the few woody types), and other genera are used for thatching and construction. As food, grasses are as important for wildlife as for domesticated animals. They are able to survive grazing because their intercalary meristems are set back from the apex of the plant. Because of the tenacious nature of their large underground root system, grasses (e.g., beach grass) are often introduced to prevent erosion.