Semester V: Plant Taxonomy and Economic Botany Poaceae

POACEAE Barnhart
( = Gramineae)

Introduction : One of the largest, economically most important cosmopolitan monocotyledonous

family ( terrestrial to aquatic) of grasses, tropical to polar (steppes, pampas, prairies, savannah and
sholas – grasslands accounts for 25% world vegetation in distribution. It has 900 genera and 11000
species (Takthajan, 1987), the fourth largest family after Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, and Fabaceae. The
basic chromosome number is variable x= 2 - 23. Agrostology is the study of grasses. Cyanogenic
compounds and alkaloids common besides the starch as the storage material.

Systematic position (Engler and Prantl)

Division : Embryophyta Siphanogama
Class : Monotyledonae
Order : Glumiflorae

Some of the important genera:

Poa (the type specimen with 500 species), Aristida (330), Panicum (450), Bambusa (125),
Paspalum (350), Sporobolus (150), Setaria (100), Arundinaria (50), Chloris (50) Digitoria(380) Avena
(oat) , Dendrocalamus, Oryza, Triticum, Hordeum (barley), Eragrostis, Sorghum. Arundo donax
Arundinaria faleata, Eleusine, Paspalum scrobiculatum, Pennisetum, Vetiveria zizanoides (khus-khus) ,
Zea mays, Cymbopogon citrates, C. Caesius (Gingergrass oil), Cynodon dactylon, Saccharum officinarum
(Sugarcane),Setaria thysanobea -maxima (broom grass), Secale (Rye), Coix lachryma-jobi etc.

Vegetative Characters
Habit & Habitat: Annual/perennial grasses; sometimes they become woody and attain large
size as in Bambusa. Some are perennial grasses ( Cynodon)

Root: Adventitious or fibrous root system, often with endomycorrhizal association, sometimes
stilt roots from the basal nodes of the stem may arise (Zea mays)

Stem: Jointed and un-branched herbaceous stem (culm), erect or prostrate, mostly with fistular
(hollow) internodes, rarely (solid), solid and distinct nodes; Rhizomes, suckers, runners, and
stolons are present.

Leaves: exstipulate, sessile, rarely petiolate (Bombusa), simple, distichous, ligulate, leaf bases
forming a tubular sheath, parallel venation and bifacial leaves. Ligule is at the junction of sheath
and blade, resembling a sheath like structure or tuft of trichomes. Leaves are linear to

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Semester V: Plant Taxonomy and Economic Botan
Botany Poaceae

lanceolate with entire margin and silica bodies on its surface. Presence of Bulliform cells in the
epidermis for rolling and stomata are graminaceous type.

A B
Figure 1A) Showing the habit of a typical grass plant and 1B) the nature of stem and leaf

Reproductive characters
Inflorescence: spikelet is the inflorescence of grasses. But these are arranged mostly in
racemes, panicles (Poa, structures Rachis is
Avena), or spikes (Triticum, Hordeum) as secondary structures.
Poa, Avena
the axis of these secondary inflorescences (Spike)
(Spike).
 The spikelets are variously arranged on the rachis. Each spikelet may have only bisexual
flowers or may have both bisexual and male florets or may have either of florets.
 Each spikelet has a very short of minute axis (rachilla)) on which glumes (bracts) are
present in two
wo vertical rows either in distichously, opposite or in whorls.
 The basal two glumes are sterile and bear nothing in their
axils.
 The upper or distal ones are fertile and each one subtends
a simple flower in its axil.
 These fertile glumes (bract) are with a lemma, the lower,
 greenish, keeled, nerved and larger bract typically with or
without a bristle like awn.

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Semester V: Plant Taxonomy and Economic Botan
Botany Poaceae

 Palea (bracteole/bract) is thin, membranous, the upper and smaller bract which has 2-
2
vein and partially enclosed by the lemma.
 Lodicules (perianth)) are the highly reduced and modified membranous or scale like
structures (2-3)3) present between the fertile glumes and the rachilla.
 Each floret is typically trimerous.

Figure 2. Showing types of arrangement of spikelets in grasses and the structure of a floret

GRASS FLORET:: pedicellate or sessile, bracteate (Lemma)

(Lemma), bracteolate (Palea),
microscopic/conspicuous, bisexual/ unisexual, trimerous, zygomorphic, chlamydeous (lodicules) ,
monochlamydeous and hypogynous
hypogynous.

Perianth: iss modified into lodicules (reduced to scale leaves)

leaves with
2/3/1, or absent (Dendrocalamus)

Androecium: stamens usually 3/6 (Oryza sativa rarely 1,

Oryza sativa)
staminodes are present, polyandrous, latrose, the stamens
filaments are filiform, and anthers are dithecous and versatile or
dorsifixed. Pollen are small, monoporate and 3-celled.
3

Gynoecium: Bi- or tricarpellary, syncarpous, unilocular superior

ovary with a single anatropous ovule on basal placentation, styles
2/3 and stigma plumose (feathery).

Fruit: Caryopsis (grain): a small, simple, dry, indehiscent, one seeded fruit, where the fruit coat
is fused with seed coat. Rich with endosperm

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Semester V: Plant Taxonomy and Economic Botan
Botany Poaceae

Figure 4: Showing the nature ffruit (caryopsis) and the floral diagrams of Poa
aceae
Floral Formula : Br (Lemma
Lemma), Brl (Palea), , P(2/3 lodicules), A3/6/1, G (2)/(3)

Economic importance: Poace

Poaceae
ae is the main family for the chief source of carbohydrate rich
food and fodder to the man and his live stock
Cereals and millets:: Three most important cereals are: Triticum aestivum (wheat), Oryza sativa
(rice) and Zea mays (maize), each used as sstaple food the world over. Hordeum vulgare (barley),
Avena sativa (oats), Secale cereal (rye), Eleusine coracana (ragi), Panicum miliaceum (true
millet), Setaria italica (Italian millet), Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet), Paspalum
scrobiculatum (ver.samae)) and many others are also used as food grains to a lesser extent.
Fodder for domestic animals
animals: Agrostis alba, Bromus inermis, Cynodon dactylon, Pennisetum
purpureum and others.
Paper industry: Many grasses are used to give good paper pulp, e.g., Ampelodesma
Ampelodes tenax,
Eulaliopsis binata, Stipa tenacissima
tenacissima.
Sugars: Saccharum officinarum is the source of sugar. The juice extracted from the crushed
canes is concentrated by boiling to yield molasses, which, on refining, gives white sugar.
Building material: Variouss species of Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Guadua and Gynerium
sagittatum are used as building material. The hay from Oryza sativa and Triticum aestivum and
the plants of Saccharum spontaneum, Imperata cylindrical, I. exacltata, and Cymbopogon
coloratus are used for thatching roofs.
Beverages: A number of alcoholic beverages like sage from Oryza sativa, sativa whiskey from
Hordeum vulgare, Zea mays and Secale cereal,, and rum from molasses, a by – product of the
sugar industry (Saccharum officinarum) are brewed.
Saccharum officinarum
Perfumery: A number of grasses are aromatic and used in the manufacture of oils and soaps
and in perfumery. Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass) yields lemon – grass oil, C. martini (ginger
grass) ginger – grass oil and C. nardus yields oil of citronella. Roots of Vetiveria
tiveria zizanoides
zizan are
the source of vetiver oil.

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Semester V: Plant Taxonomy and Economic Botany Poaceae

Many grasses are grown as ornamentals: Various species of Cymbopogon, many ornamental
bamboos and others are grown as ornamentals. Many grasses are turf – forming and grown in
lawns and sports areas. Ammophila arenaria is used as sand – binder.

Diagnostic/ salient features:

 These are annual or perennial herbaceous grasses.

 Stems are herbaceous, cylindrical, jointed, with distinct nodes (solid) and internodes (fistular)
and un-branched (Culms).
 Leaves are simple, alternate, distichous, ligulate , prominent sheath bases, linear- lanceolate,
bifacial and parallel venation.
 Infloresence is Spikelet, present in the form of spike, panicle, racemes or glomerules.
 Spikelet with a pair of basal sterile glumes followed by 1- many fertile glumes possessing
florets.
 Florets are microscopic, uni – or bisexual, trimerous, zygomorphic, with lemma (bract), palea
(bracteole), lodicules ( perianth), hypogynous.
 Stamens 3 - 6 or 1, with versatile anthers.
 Plumose (feathery) stigmas (2-3)
 Fruit is Caryopsis- small, endospermic and one seeded.

References & Suggested Reading:

1. Gurucharan Singh: Plant Systematics- Theory & Practice,3rd Edn., CBS Publishers (2012)
2. Bharati Bhattacharyya: systematic Botany, Narosa Publishing, Delhi (2005)
3. Subramanyam NS: Modern taxonomy, Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd.(1995)
4. Simpson MG: Plant Systematics, 2nd Edn., Academic Press (2010)

Cited Images:
1. https://onlinesciencenotes.com/characteristics-economic-importance- cruciferace-brassicaceae/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae#/media/File:Grassy_grass_plant.svg
3. https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/South_African_Plant_Families/key/South%20African%20Plant%20Families

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