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Poaceae
plant family
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External Websites
- Smithsonian Library and Archives - Poaceae (Gramineae)
- Academia - A world-wide phylogenetic classification of Poaceae (Gramineae)
- USDA Forest Service - Poaceae
- Frontiers - Early inflorescence development in the grasses (Poaceae)
- University of California, Riverside - Ezcurra Ecological Research - Department of Botany & Plant Sciences - Poaceae: The grass family
- Smithsonian - National Museum of Natural History - Poaceae
Also known as: Gramineae, grass family
Poaceae, grass family of monocotyledonous flowering plants, a division of the order Poales. The Poaceae are the world’s single most important source of food. They rank among the top five families of flowering plants in terms of the number of species, but they are clearly the most abundant and important family of the Earth’s flora. They grow on all continents, in desert to freshwater and marine habitats, and at all but the highest elevations. Plant communities dominated by grasses account for about 24 percent of the Earth’s vegetation.