Poaceae (Gramineae) -- comments
Genera: Triticum spp. (wheat), Avena sativa (oats), Zea mays (corn), Oryza sativa (rice), Saccharum officinarum (sugar cane), Hordeum vulgare (barley), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum), Secale (rye), Bambusa spp. (bamboo)
Comments: Without a doubt, the most important family in the average human’s life! If aliens were to land on this planet and take a quick look around, they would probably describe a planet in which the grasses had millions of human slaves tending to their every need...
Rice feeds more humans than any other grain. “Wild rice” is actually a different species (Zizania aquatica) and is native to North America. Wild rice has a bit more, nutrition-wise, than rice, but the bracts are harder to separate from the fruit, and is more expensive to harvest.
As well as the grains that we eat, grass is very important as fodder for many of our livestock. Range management has become very important in the West (after overgrazing and catastrophic droughts killed lots of cattle in the past), and you can take courses that concentrate only on grasses!!