Grasses

What characteristics must a plant have to qualify as a grass?

What kind of roots do all grasses have?

About how many species around the world are there in the grass family called Gramineae or Poaceae?

Do the seeds of grasses have two halves as does the bean (a dicotyledon), or does the seed consist of just one part as do the lily, date, and coconut (monocotyle dons)?

What unique characteristic in the growth of grass leaves makes it possible for the plant to flourish even though continually mowed or grazed?

Name three annual grasses, that is, grasses that sprout from seeds, blossom, bear seeds, and then die the same summer.

Name three perennial grasses, that is, grasses whose roots live on from year to year, although the top dies down to the crown each autumn.

In each of the following cases name a single grass, or more where indicated, from which the product is made:

• a.

  Bread (three grasses)

• b.

  Brooms

• c.

  Fishing poles

• d.

  Gluten

• e.

  Grain alcohol (two grasses)

• f.

  Hay

• g.

  Hominy

• h.

  Molasses

• i.

  Oatmeal

• j.

  Starch

• k.

  Sugar

• l.

  White flour

Do one of the following:

• a.

  Collect and correctly label ten cultivated grasses.

• b.

  Write an essay on the various uses of grasses by different people around the world.

Press or dry, mount, and correctly label the flower stalks or seed stalks of five pestiferous grasses that are commonly considered to be weeds.

In addition to your collection of flower or seed stalks of pestiferous kinds, press, mount, and correctly name the flower stalks or seed stalks of ten additional grasses that grow in your neighborhood. This collection may include some of the plants whose seeds are in your collection of cultivated grasses.