Wiki Poaceae (Wiki) -
Poaceae (true grasses)
Fossil range: Late Cretaceous[1] - present
Flowering head of Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), with stamens exserted at anthesis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class:
Liliopsida
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
(R.Br.) Barnhart
Subfamilies
There are 7 subfamilies:
Subfamily Arundinoideae
Subfamily Bambusoideae
Subfamily Centothecoideae
Subfamily Chloridoideae
Subfamily Panicoideae
Subfamily Pooideae
Subfamily Stipoideae
Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the flowering plants. Plants of this family are usually called grasses. There are about 600 genera and between 9,000–10,000 species of grasses (Kew Index of World Grass Species). Plant communities dominated by Poaceae are called grasslands; it is estimated that grasslands comprise 20% of the vegetation cover of the earth. This family is the most important of all plant families to human economies: it includes the staple food grains grown around the world, lawn and forage grasses, and bamboo, widely used for construction throughout east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The term "grass" is also applied to many grass-like plants not in the Poaceae, leading to plants of the Poaceae often being called "true grasses".