Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous
family of
monocotyledonous
flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
grasses,
bamboos and the grasses of natural
grassland and species cultivated in
lawns and
pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass.
With around 780
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and around 12,000 species,
the Poaceae is the fifth-largest
plant family, following the
Asteraceae,
Orchidaceae,
and
Rubiaceae.
The Poaceae are the most economically important plant family, providing
staple food
A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and ...
s from domesticated
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
crops such as
maize,
wheat,
rice,
barley, and
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Mos