Poaceae (Gramineae) -- comments
Comments: Several species of bamboo (Bambusa sp.), are used not only as food, but also for timber, pulp, and utensils. Some bamboos grow vegetatively for years (up to 150 yrs), flower, and then die. This has caused problems in the past (particularly for pandas) because clones can spread over large areas of land, and when it is time for that plant to flower all the clones simultaneously flower and die.
Ornamental uses for grasses include turf-grasses (billions and billions of dollars are spent on residential and commercial lawns every year) such as St. Augustine grass and Bermuda grass (Cynodon sp.), and as accent plants in perennial borders and the landscape.
Fermented grains are the main source of many alcoholic beverages, and some anthropologists have theorized that these recreational drinks may have had a profound effect on the beginnings of agriculture!