Mojave Grasses

The grass family Poaceae (also known as Gramineae) has some 10,000 species and 650 to 900 genera. Only the sunflower (Asteraceae, or Compositae), legume (Fabaceae, or Leguminosae), and orchid (Orchidaceae) families are larger. The grass family has more individual plants and a wider environmental range than does any other family, reaching the limits of vegetation in polar regions and on mountaintops, enduring extremes of cold, heat, and drought, and dominating various landscapes worldwide. Grasses are the most successful monocots (seed-bearing plants with single seed leaves), and the most beneficial plants for humankind, providing highly nutritional grains and livestock forage, and preventing soil erosion. Of the 5 crops that provide almost two-thirds of the food we eat, including corn, barley, potatoes, rice, and wheat, only potatoes are not a grain.