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GRAMINEAE- UTILITY, TAXONOMY AND IDENTIFICATION

Paramjit Singh

Botanical Survey of India

CGO Complex, Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700 064

pchanna@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION

Gramineae nom. cons. (Poaceae nom. alt.)- comprising of herbaceous grasses and tree like
bamboo elements are known for multiple uses. There value to mankind was realized quite early
during the evolution of human civilization. In fact the emergence of different civilizations can be
attributed to the cultivation of crops and ultimate shift from hunter gatherer to settlers and
cultivators. Grasses are considered as highly evolved group in the plant kingdom and occupy 23% of
the forest area and its members are the staple food of the most of the herbivores and human
population.

IMPORTANCE

All the world’s cereal crops are grasses, and thus the grass family is economically very important.
The world’s 5 top crops produce more tonnage than the next 25 combined, and 4 of the top 5 are
the cereals rice, wheat, corn, and barley. Human well-being depends on these few grasses, so even
small crop failures of any one of them can produce widespread hunger and economic disruption. In
addition, the family provides most of the world’s sugar ( Sugarcane). Another member of the family,
bamboo, is an important construction material as well as a food source; it also has been used in
paper making. Citronella, used both in perfumery and as an insect repellent, is an oil distilled from
the leaves of certain grasses.

Grasses are the primary source of food for domestic and wild grazing animals, which feed on
pastures and grasslands and which are fed hay and silage harvested from them. The total land area
devoted to these kinds of croplands is greater than the land area for all other kinds of croplands
combined.

Another economically significant use of grasses is for the lawns maintained in many parts of the
world. Perennial grasses are well adapted for use in lawns because their basal meristems (growing
points) are not lost with mowing. Often special grasses are used where particular conditions of soil
or exposure make the more common species unsuitable.
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In fact, not all grasses are beneficial, and some are considered pests. Most of these are weeds that
occur in croplands and decrease overall production by competing with the cultivated crop, interfere
with harvesting, or lower the overall food or other value of the crop by contamination. Some tropical
forage grasses produce lethal concentrations of hydrocyanic acid under certain conditions.

DISTRIBUTION AND SIZE RANGE

Grasses are the most widely distributed group of flowering plants, occurring from well above the
Arctic Circle through the temperate and tropical regions to Antarctica. Indeed, grasses are the only
flowering plants to grow on the Antarctic continent. This huge geographical range is paralleled by
great ecological amplitude and variation in size. Grasses are most abundant in open habitats such as
prairies, tundra, steppes, savannas, but many species occur in forests, particularly in the Tropics.
Some are adapted to aquatic habitats, including salt water, fresh water, and still or running water. A
few species float on the water’s surface and are not attached to the ground. Grasses also occur in
desert regions.

In size, grass plants range from tropical giant bamboos that reach a height of more than 40 m to
annual bluegrass, only a few centimeters tall. Some grasses lack leaf blades, but the blades of others
may attain considerable length.

UTILITY

'Bamboo is linked since ages with humanity, environment, industry, culture, folklore and
exploited for making house, food, fishing, fodder, medicines, handicrafts, paper-pulp, charcoal,
agricultural implements, household materials etc. With more advancements, they are now being
used for manufacturing diesel, catalysts, culture media, fabrics, as soil-stabilizer, substitute for
plywood, rattan and is getting popularity in horticulture for garden as well as house beauty.

The rural people are the principal users of bamboo, using many time more material than the
pulp and paper industries. The strength of culms, their straightness, smoothness, and lightness
combined with its hardness, more or less hollowness, the facility and regularity with which they can
be split, and the range in size make it suitable for a wide variety of purposes for which other
materials would require much labour and preparation. To this must be added their abundance and
the ease with which they can be propagated and cut and the short period in which they attain
maturity.

Grasses and Bamboos fulfill the following major needs:

Housing and Construction: One of the most important applications of bamboos is in building houses.
The culms of different species come in use according to their greater or lesser strength. The frame
work and posts are made of species with stronger culms such as Bambusa arundinacea, B. tulda, B.
balcooa, Dendrocalamus strictus, D. strictus, etc.. These houses are raised above the ground and the
under space is usually used as sheds for pigs, fowls etc. These houses are not only good looking but
also healthier to live in. Grass species of Themeda and Saccharum are used for thatching.

Bamboo is extensively used in constructional work for scaffolding, making ladders, bridges,
supports etc. Although bamboo generally is not fit for the construction of boats or canoes, it is in

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general use for masts and spars of small vessels, and rafts upon which timber is floated down the
rivers.

Furniture and Handicrafts: Different types of furniture are made of bamboos as table, chair, bed,
bench, waving-chairs, almirah, boxes, partitions etc. These furniture are not only durable, light, but
also beautifully carved and eye catching.

The thin split and shaved culms are used to make baskets, fans, betel boxes, cages,
umbrellas etc.; the long internodes with small hole in it is used for carrying water, the hollow
internodes with single joints of large bamboos especially Dendrocalamus giganteus, D. hamiltonii, D.
sikkimensis etc. are used as buckets and containers; the thinner culm joints cut just below the nodes
are used as bottles and jars to keep honey, fluids, salt, sugar, fish etc. and made into cups, bowls,
ladles, candle sticks, hookahs, smoking pipes etc. The traditional musical instruments flutes, fife and
crude violin, the weaponry bows and arrows, javelins, sticks and handles of swords, knives and axes
are all made up of bamboos. Besides umbrella handles, walking sticks, chopsticks, painting brushes,
various toys, kites etc. are the end less common ways in which bamboo is used.

Agricultural implements: Bamboo is also fitted for yokes of cattle, axles and even springs of the
smaller carts, often with a small bamboo house built upon. While bamboo culms with thin walls and
pierced nodes are used as water pipes for carrying water down the streams, the bamboo culms
standing in crop fields with some clothes pieces, appearing as a watchman are commonly seen, to
keep away the birds.

The fisherman makes his oars, masts, fishing appliances, conical fish traps and even the
hooks for catching fishes, of bamboos. Excellent fishing-rods are also made of solid bamboos, the
species used mainly Chimonobambusa callosa etc. Baskets, cages, hencoops, large hats and rain
shields made of bamboos are much essential for the daily works of a countryman in Meghalaya and
N.E. India.

Food & Fodder: All our cereals like rice, wheat, oats, rye, barley, maize and millets are grasses.
Another important grass Sugarcane is not only an important source of sugar, but is also an
important source of biofuel. Many countries depend on mixture of petrol and biofuel to meet there
car fuel requirements. Many grasses are known for fodder value like species of Brachiaria,
Bothriochloa, Cenchrus, Panicum, Poa, etc. Young bamboo shoots are a favourite vegetables in N.E.
India; the species being mainly Dendrocalamus giganteus, D. hamiltonii, Bambusa arundinacea, B.
balcooa, B. polymorpha, B. tulda, Melocanna baccifera and Chimonobambusa callosa etc. These
shoots form pickles, chutney or vegetables and regarded as delicacies in many parts of the world.
The food industry based on bamboo shoots is expanding fast and in some cases it has a higher cash
value than rice. For example Thailand earns through export of about 18 percent of Japan’s canned
bamboo shoot requirement.

The bamboo leaves are much valued as fodder for cattle in regions where meadows or other
grass are scarce or wanting. Cattle and horses relish it.

Medicines: Bamboo roots, leaves, sprouts and grains are used in the Ayurvedic system of
medicines for the treatment of many diseases. Bamboo roots are considered poisonous due to the
presence of cyanogenic glucosides but the burnt roots are used for the treatment of ringworm,

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bleeding gums, painful joints and wounds. Some grasses are of medicinal value and others like
Cymbopogon and Vetiveria yield valuable essential oils.

The water accumulating in hollow bamboo internodes is used against bowel-complaints.

“Tabasheer” a siliceous whitish floury substance, probably as a residuum in the interior of joints of
several species (B. arundinacea, M. baccifera), is largely used as cooling, tonic, aphrodisiac and
pectoral. It is effective in asthma, cough, paralytic complaints, flatulency and poisoning cases. In
China, it plays a great role in Chinese medicines and pretty large quantity of tabasheer are exported
from India to that country. The culm epidermis of Schizostachym capitatum is used as antidote
against snake bite and in places where ordinary surgical appliances are not available, the sheaths or
carefully cleaned sections of culms may be used as splints. It is by no means an unusual thing to find
a bamboo joint used as an artificial limb, the stump of the leg being simply inserted at the open end
of the bamboo.

Paper and Fabric Pulp: The main species suitable for better and larger quantity of pulp production
are- Bambusa arundiancea, Dendrocalamm strictus, Melocanna baccifera, and Ochlandra
tranvancorica. Bambusa tulda, B. polymorpha, Dendrocalamus longispathus, D. hamiltonii,
Schizostachyum dullooa and Oxytenanthera auriculata can be satisfactorily digested together for
pulp-production. The grass species belonging to genera Themeda, Saccharum, Eulaliopsis, Arundo
and Phragmites have proven quality for manufacture of paper pulp

Some attention has been paid of late to the bamboo as textile plant. A fibre has been
obtained, from the culms of Ochlandra travancorica and few others, suitable for mixing with wool,
rayon, cotton and even silk. It is said to be very soft and to take dyes very readily. For this the
internodal portion is boiled in caustic soda for a lengthened time until the fibre has become some
what soft, then put under heavy rollers to crush and finally combed, after which it is made up into
bales for exportation. The fabric prepared is of fine quality and good for health and skin, since it
absorbs sweat easily and its porous nature allows easy ventilation.

Hedges and landscape gardening: Several sorts of bamboo as Phyllostachys mannii, P. bambusoides,
Sinarundinaria griffithiana, Chimonobambusa callosa, Bambusa multiplex, B. bambos etc. form good
living hedges and are superior to the artificial ones on account of their durability and almost
impenetrable thickets.

For ornamental and landscape gardening, bamboo forms one of the most picturesque
features. The beautiful species common in the gardens are Bambusa vulgaris var. striata, B. wamin,
B. multiplex, Phyllostachys nigra, Pleioblastus viride-striatus, Pseudosasas japonica etc.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS USEFUL IN IDENTIFICATION

GRASS ROOTS

Grasses are rather uniform in basic vegetative structure, and several features are
characteristic of the group. The main roots are usually fibrous; secondary roots, called adventitious
roots, often arise from the nodes (joints) of the stems, as in the prop roots of corn. Characters to be
observed for identification in grasses are the presence or absence and types of rhizome, stolon and

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whether annual or perennial plants. Some grass roots are aromatic and can be easily identified on
the basis of this character alone.

STEM (CULM)

The stems are usually herbaceous (lawn grasses) or hollow (bamboo), but exceptions occur,
such as the pithy stems of corn and the woody stems of some bamboo. Grass stems are one to ten
mm thick whereas bamboo stems(culms) could be up to 15 cm thick. Most stems are usually terete
but in species of Poa and Eleucine , they are compressed.

LEAVES

The leaves, which are borne at the nodes along the stem, are in two rows and consist of two
parts: the sheath and the blade. The sheath, a distinctive feature of the grasses, encircles the stem
and gives support to the area just above each node. This area needs support because it is composed
of soft growth tissue called meristem. Indeed, the grass stem increases in length not from the tip, as
do most plants, but by growth all along the stem above each node.

Another distinctive feature of grasses is the ligule, a short hairy or membranous projection, at the
point where the leaf sheath joins the leaf blade. The function of the ligule is still unknown, but it may
keep moisture from entering the region between the stem and the sheath.

The leaf blade is typically long and narrow, with parallel veins, but great variations in shape and size
occur. The leaf blade also has a meristematic area, which is located at its base above the place
where the blade joins the sheath. Growth occurs in this area rather than at the leaf tip, as in most
plants. Therefore, even if the upper end of the leaf is cut off, the blade can continue to grow. This
feature, together with the presence of meristem tissue in the stems and the fact that grasses branch
near the ground, enables grasses to withstand the rigors of many natural and artificial environments
in areas where other plants cannot grow. The usefulness of grasses as lawn plants is also derived
from these features, because grasses continue to grow after mowing. In addition, grasses can
withstand burning, grazing, and trampling and now dominate large areas where such events occur.

FLOWERS AND FRUIT

The flowers of grasses are usually individually inconspicuous, but they are often aggregated into
large, sometimes showy clusters (inflorescences). For example, in the corn plant, the young ears are
clusters of the female flowers, and the tassels are clusters of the male flowers. Most grasses are
pollinated by wind, so that their flowers are highly reduced and very simple, as are most wind-
pollinated flowers.

The individual flowers of grasses are called florets because of their simplicity and small size. They
have no sepals or petals (floral whorls); rather, these structures are represented by two tiny scales,
called lodicules, at the base of the floret, outside the usually three stamens (male flower parts). The
single ovary (female flower part) is superior—that is, borne above the other flower parts—and is
topped by two feathery stigmas. The ovary matures into a distinctive, single-seeded fruit called a
caryopsis, characterized by the fusion of the seed to the ovary wall.

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Grass florets are grouped into units termed spikelets. A spikelet consists of an axis, called a rachilla,
along which are borne the florets. Each floret is enclosed by a scale—called a lemma—on the
outside, and another—called a palea—on the inside. At the base of the rachilla are two scales called
glumes, which are empty. The glumes and lemmas are usually hard in texture and often extend into
a bristle or awn; the palea is delicate and membranous.

Although their basic parts are simple and few, great variation exists among grasses in details of the
structure of spikelets and their aggregation into flower clusters. This, together with details of overall
structure and less easily observed characteristics of anatomy, cytology, and chemistry, accounts for
the tremendous number of species of grasses.

OTHER GRASSLIKE PLANTS

Plants of two other groups, the sedges and the rushes, are superficially similar to grasses and are
often confused with them. The three groups are easily distinguished, however, by examining their
flowers, stems, and leaves. Rushes have flowers with six-part perianths (floral whorls) and from
three- to many-seeded fruits, whereas the flowers of sedges and grasses have no perianth and have
single-seeded fruits. Sedges usually occur in moist habitats and have solid stems that are triangular
and bear three rows of leaves. Grasses usually occur in dry habitats and have round, hollow stems
with two rows of leaves (Marshall R. Crosby , internet resources 2006)

Classification is the science of identification, naming, categorizing and grouping of plants and all
other organisms . Grasses and bamboos are generally classified based on phytogeography, habit,
habitat, morphological and anatomical features. Various systems of classification have been
followed like

Classification based on geographical distribution

Classification based on habitat

Classification based on habit

But the most accepted systems of Classification are based on morphology

INDIAN SCENARIO

Hooker in Flora of British India in 1896 reported 135 genera and 734 species from areas of present
day India. Bor recognized 220 genera and 1165 species and infraspecific taxa from India.

Bor while publishing his monumental work on grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan , in 1960
divided the grasses into two subfamilies Panicoideae and Pooideae .

According to Clayton and Renvoize (1986) the family is represented by about 10,000 species in the
world spread under 651 genera under 40 tribes and 6 subfamilies. Karthikeyan & al (1989)
recognized 263 genera of grasses in India.

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GRASS GENERA IN INDIA

Name of the genus Species Species Name of the genus Species Species
in the in India in the in India
world world
Acrachne 4 3 Lasiurus 1 1
Acroceras 19 3 Leersia 18 2
Aegilops 21 1 Leptaspis 5 1
Aeluropus 4 1 Leptochloa 40 6
Agropyron 15 2 Leptothrium 2 1
Agrostis 220 22 Lepturus 8 2
Aira 8 1* Leymus 40 1
Alloteropsis 5 2 Limnopoa 1 1
Alopecurus 36 6 Littledalea 3 1
Andropogon 100 7 Lolium 8 5
Anthoxanthum 18 4 Lophatherum 2 1
Apluda 1 1 Lopholepis 1 1
Apocopsis 15 4 Lophopogon 3 3
Aristida 250 10 Lygeum 1 1
Arrhenatherum 6 1 Manisuris 1 1
Arthraxon 10 6 Melanocenchris 3 3
Arundinaria 50 2 Melica 80 5
Arundinella 50 20 Melinis 11 1
Arundo 3 1 Melocanna 2 2
Avena 25 5* Microcalamus 1 1
Axonopus 110 2 Microchloa 6 2
Bambusa 120 18 Microstegium 15 6
Bhidea 2 2 Milium 4 1
Bothriochloa 25 14 Miscanthus 20 5
Bouteloua 24 3* Mnesithea 5 5
Brachiaria 100 21 Muhlenbergia 160 3
Brachypodium 16 2 Myriostachya 1 1
Briza 20 3 Neyraudia 2 2
Bromus 150 16 Ochlandra 11 10
Calamagrostis 85 9 Ochthochloa 1 1
Capillipedium 14 8 Ophiuros 5 4
Castellia 1 1 Oplismenus 5 3
Catabrosa 2 1 Orinus 2 1
Catapodium 2 1 Oropetium 6 3
Cenchrus 22 8 Oryza 20 8
Centotheca 4 1 Oryzopsis 35 6
Centropodia 4 1 Ottochloa 4 1
Chandrasekharania 1 1 Oxytenanthera 2 1
Chimonobambusa 10 1 Panicum 480 34
Chionachne 7 2 Parahyparrhenia 5 1
Chloris 55 9 Parapholis 6 1
Chrysopogon 26 16 Paspalidium 40 3
Cleistachne 1 1 Paspalum 330 7
Coelachne 10 3 Pennisetum 80 12
Coelachyrum 8 1 Perotis 10 2

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Coelorhachis 21 3 Phacelurus 9 2
Coix 5 4 Phaenosperma 1 1
Colpodium 19 4 Phalaris 15 2
Cortaderia 24 1* Phippsia 3 1
Crypsis 8 1 Phleum 15 3
Cyathopus 1 1 Phragmites 4 2
Cymbopogon 40 20 Phyllostachys 45 2
Cynodon 8 4 Poa 500 55
Cynosurus 8 2* Pogonachne 1 1
Cyrtococcum 11 7 Pogonatherum 4 4
Dactylis 1 1 Polypogon 18 2
Dactyloctenium 3 3 Polytoca 2 1
Danthonia 20 2 Polytris 1 1
Danthonidium 1 1 Pommereulla 1 1
Dendrocalamus 36 10 Porteresia 1 1
Deschampsia 40 2 Pseudanthistiria 4 4
Desmostachya 1 1 Pseudechinolaena 7 1
Deyeuxia 200 8 Pseudodanthonia 2 1
Dichaetaria 1 1 Pseudodichanthium 1 1
Dichanthium 20 10 Pseudoraphis 6 3
Digitaria 230 25 Pseudosorghum 2 1
Dignathia 5 1 Pseudoxytenanthera 4 4
Dimeria 40 35 Puccinellia 80 6
Dinebra 3 1 Racemobambos 19 3
Dinochloa 26 6 Rhynchelytrum 14 1
Duthiea 3 1 Rostraria 10 3
Echinochloa 40 6 Rottboellia 4 2
Ehrharta 35 1 Saccharum 40 14
Eleusine 9 2 Sacciolepis 30 4
Elymus 150 15 Schismus 5 2
Elionurus 15 1 Schizachyrium 60 6
Elytrophorus 2 1 Schizostachyum 65 16
Enneapogon 28 4 Schoenefeldia 2 1
Enteropogon 17 3 Sclerachne 1 1
Eragrostiella 5 5 Sclerochloa 2 1
Eragrostis 350 30 Secale 4 2*
Eremochloa 9 1 Sehima 5 3
Eremopoa 4 2 Setaria 100 12
Eremopyrum 5 3 Silentvalleya 1 1
Eriachne 40 1 Sinarundinaria 50 21
Eriochloa 30 2 Sorghastrum 16 1*
Eriochryisis 7 1 Sorghum 20 6
Euclasta 2 1 Spartina 15 1
Eulalia 30 15 Sphaerocaryum 1 1
Eulaliopsis 2 2 Spinifex 4 1
Festuca 450 27 Spodiopogon 9 4
Garnotia 20 10 Sporobolus 160 19
Germainia 9 1 Stenotaphrum 7 1
Gigantochloa 15 3 Stipa 300 25

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Glyceria 40 2 Stipagrostis 50 4
Glyphochloa 8 8 Streptogyna 2 1
Gymnopogon 15 1 Tetrapogon 5 2
Hackelochloa 2 2 Thamnocalamus 7 3
Halopyrum 1 1 Thelepogon 1 1
Helictotrichon 100 3 Themeda 20 17
Hemarthria 12 5 Thuarea 2 1
Hemisorghum 2 1 Thyrsostachys 2 1
Heteropholis 5 1 Thysanolaena 1 1
Heteropogon 6 6 Trachys 1 1
Hierochloe 30 3 Tragus 7 1
Hilaria 9 1* TrIchloris 2 2*
Holcolemma 4 1 Tricholaena 4 1
Holcus 6 2* Trikeraia 2 1
Hordeum 40 5,2* Trilobachne 1 1
Hubbardia 1 1 Triplopogon 1 1
Hygroryza 1 1 Tripogon 30 12
Hymenachne 5 2 Tripsacum 13 1
Hyparrhenia 55 3, 1* Trisetaria 15 1
Hystix 9 1 Trisetum 70 7
Ichnanthus 33 1 Triticum 20 2
Imperata 8 1 Urochloa 12 2
Indopoa 1 1 Urochondra 1 1
Isachne 100 30 Vetiveria 10 2
Ischaemum 70 46 Vossia 1 1
Iseilema 20 6 Vulpina 24 5
Jansenella 1 1 Zea 5 2
Kengia 10 2 Zenkeria 5 4
Koeleria 35 2 Zizania 3 1
Lagurus 1 1* Zoysia 10 1
Lamarckia 1 1*
*introduced species ITALICS: Endemic genera source: (Nair & Thomas, 2001)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to Dr M. Sanjappa, Director, Botanical Survey of India for facilities and
encouragement, to Dr D.K. Singh, Additional Director, BSI for suggestions and Dr V. Chandra, FRI,
Dehradun for inviting to deliver this talk.

FURTHER READING

Clayton, W. D. and Renvoize, S. A. (1986). Genera Graminum, grasses of the world. Her Majestys
Stationery Office, London.

Grass Phylogeny Working Group (2001) Phylogeny and sub-familial classification of the grasses.
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 88: 373-457.

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Soderstom, T.R. and Ellis, R.P. (1987). The position of bamboo genera and allies in a system of grass
classification. In “Grass Systematics and Evolution” (T.R. Soderstom, K.W. Hilu, C.S. Campbell and
M.E. Barkworth, eds.), Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington DC & London.

Jacobs, S.W.L. and Everett, J.E. (2000). Grass systematic and Evolution. CSIRO publishing,
Collingwood, Victoria.

Nair, V.J. and Thomas, S. (2001). Poaceae. In “ Floristic Diversity and Conservation Strategies in
India”. (N.P. Singh and D.K. Singh, eds.). Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. For all references cited

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