Archive:Grass
Template:Short description Template:About
Grass refers to various families of plants. The three major families of grasslike plants are true grasses (Poaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), and rushes (Juncaceae). Lawns and pasturelands are typically composed of true grasses, five of which cover 46% of the world's arable land: rice, wheat, maize, barley, and sugar cane.[1][2]
"Grass" as a name has been applied to a wide group of unrelated plants including herbaceous plants whose leaves and stems are eaten by both domesticated and wild animals.
In botany and ecology, the term graminoid refers to a herbaceous plant with a grass-like morphology,[3] i.e., elongated culms with long, blade-like leaves. They are contrasted with forbs, herbaceous plants without grass-like features.
Plants
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The plants most often referred to include the families Poaceae (grasses in the strict sense), Cyperaceae (sedges), Juncaceae (rushes) and Restionaceae (restios). These are not closely related but belong to different clades in the order Poales. The grasses (Poaceae) are by far the largest family, with some 12,000 species.
Common traits
A graminoid is a plant that has a simple structure of repeated parts that have their meristems, growing parts, within their stems. They frequently have well-developed ways of reproducing vegetatively, without needing to grow from pollinated seeds. As a group, the graminoids produce fewer toxins than other plants and instead rely on physical defenses against being eaten by herbivores. Their evolution has been in response to grazing by both mammals and insects.Template:Sfn
Ecology
Besides their similar morphology, graminoids share a widespread occurrence and often dominance in open habitats such as grasslands or marshes. They can, however, also be found in the understory of forests. Sedges and rushes tend to prefer wetter habitats than grasses.
Usage
Grass can refer to a green area, such as a lawn, park, or a field, and is often used for recreation or for sports such as lawn tennis or bowls.[4] Beginning in the 1970s, some sports venues have installed artificial grass/turf to reduce maintenance costs.[5]
Etymology
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Look up graminoid in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The word grass may have its origin in the Proto-Indo-European root gʰreh₁-, meaning Template:Gloss.[6]
The word graminoid is derived from Latin Template:Wikt-lang 'grass; herb', with the suffix Template:Wikt-lang denoting '-like; resembling, characteristic of'.Template:Sfn The Latin grāmen may be related to the English grass through a common word in the Proto-Indo-European language. However, grass is a Germanic word comparable to the Old Frisian gres or Old High German gras. In Old English it was gærsum which changed over time into the modern word. It was first spelled grass in 1393, but continued to be spelled variously through at least 1637.Template:Sfn
See also
References
- ↑ Kraehmer, Hansjoerg, ed (2019) (in en). Grasses: Crops, Competitors, and Ornamentals. Wiley. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-119-41680-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=AUOXDwAAQBAJ.
- ↑ Hipp, Andrew L. (2008) (in en). Field Guide to Wisconsin Sedges: An Introduction to the Genus Carex (Cyperaceae). Madinson, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-299-22590-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=Gkfdbp7cRgQC.
- ↑ Park, Chris; Allaby, Michael (2017) (in en). A Dictionary of Environment and Conservation. Oxford University Press. doi:. ISBN 9780191826320.
- ↑ "Grass". https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/grass.
- ↑ "The Cost of Natural Grass vs. Artificial Turf in Sports" (in en-AU). 2024-10-30. https://aptasiapacific.com.au/news/the-real-cost-of-natural-grass-vs-artificial-turf-in-sports/.
- ↑ Jr, James P. Smith (2014-09-12) (in en). Field Guide to Grasses of California. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95843-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=O73BAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA6.
Sources
Books
- (in en) Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English language, Unabridged. I: A to G. Springfield, Massachusetts: G. & C. Merriam Co.. 1981. ISBN 978-0-87779-201-7. OCLC 8838804. https://archive.org/details/webstersthirdne001gove. Retrieved on 3 July 2025.
- Jefferies, R.L. (1988). "13 : Vegetational mosaics, plant-animal interactions and resources for plant growth" (in en). Plant Evolutionary Biology (First ed.). London; New York: Chapman and Hall. ISBN 978-0-412-29290-3. OCLC 17233777. https://archive.org/details/plantevolutionar0000unse. Retrieved on 3 July 2025.