Information about Grass

Grass is a common word that generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Gramineae (Poaceae). True grasses include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns (turf). They include some more specialised crops such as lemongrass, as well as many ornamental plants, and some weeds. They also include plants often not considered to be grasses, such as bamboos.

The term 'grass' is sometimes used to describe related plants in the rush (Juncaceae) and sedge (Cyperaceae) families, that resemble grass somewhat. It may also be used to describe completely unrelated plants, sometimes of similar appearances to grass, with leaves rising vertically from the ground, and sometimes of dissimilar appearance. A single piece of grass is called a blade

Grasses and grass-like plants have proven to be among the most versatile of life forms. Plants having grasslike structures have existed for millions of years, providing fodder for Cretaceous dinosaurs, whose fossilized dung (coprolite) contains phytoliths of a variety of grasses that include the ancestors of rice and bamboo (Piperno & Sues, 2005). Grasses have adapted to conditions in lush rain forests, dry deserts, and cold mountain steppes, and are presently the most widespread of all plant types. Plants of this type have always been important to human beings. They provide the majority of food crops, and have numerous other uses, such as feeding animals, and for lawns. There are numerous minor uses, and grasses are familiar to most human cultures.

Grass and society

Grasses and grass-like plants have long had significance in human society, having been cultivated as food for domesticated animals for up to 10,000 years. (See grass fed beef.) They have been used for paper-making since at least 2400 BC.

In some places, particularly in suburban areas in the United States, the maintenance of a grass lawn is a sign of a homeowner's responsibility to the overall appearance of their neighborhood. Many municipalities and homeowner's associations have rules about this. Some require lawns to be maintained to certain specifications, sanctioning those who allow the grass to grow too long. In communities with drought problems, watering of lawns may be restricted to certain times of day or days of the week.

Grass is also used in several contexts in sports, most notably with sports played on fields such as football, cricket, baseball, and rugby. In some sports facilities, including indoor domes and places where maintenance of a grass field would be difficult, grass may be replaced with artificial turf, a synthetic grass-like substitute. Two sports, golf and tennis, are only played on real grass, and are particularly dependent on the quality of the grass on which the sport is played.

In tennis, grass is grown on very hard-packed soil, and bounces may vary depending on how healthy the grass is, how recently it has been mowed, and the wear and tear of recent play. The most famous grass tennis court in the world is Centre Court at Wimbledon. Tennis, however, is usually played on clay courts, and only a few regular tennis tournaments are played on a grass court. The surface is less firm than hard courts, causing the ball to bounce lower, and so players must reach the ball faster. Due to high maintenance costs however, grass courts are now rare as they must be watered and mowed often, and take a longer time to dry after rain than hard courts.



Golf, on the other hand, is always played on grass, and is dependant on the maintenance of a very large area of well-cut grass. Grass on golf courses is kept in three distinct conditions, that of the rough, the fairway, and the putting green. Grass on the fairway is kept very short and even, allowing the player to cleanly strike the ball, while playing from the rough is a disadvantage because the grass in the rough is generally much longer, which may affect the flight of the ball. Grass on the putting is the shortest and most even of all, ideally allowing the ball to slide smoothly over the surface. An entire industry revolves around the development and marketing of grasses for golf courses.

Grass in fiction

Grass plays a central role in two important science fiction catastrophe novels from the 1940s and 1950s, Ward Moore's Greener Than You Think, in which the world is slowly taken over by unstoppable Bermuda Grass, and John Christopher's The Death of Grass, in which a plague that kills off all forms of grass threatens the survival of the human race.

References

• Chapman, G.P. and W.E. Peat. 1992. An Introduction to the Grasses. CAB Internat., Oxon, UK.
• Cheplick, G.P. 1998. Population Biology of Grasses. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Milne, L. and M. Milne. 1967. Living Plants of the World. Chaticleer Press, N.Y.
• Soderstrom, T.R., K.W. Hilu, C.S. Campbell, and M.E. Barkworth, eds. 1987. Grass Systematics and Evolution. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
• Went, Frits W. 1963. The Plants. Time-Life Books, N.Y.

External links

• Why is the grass green?