- Sweet grasses - a plant family with countless species
- Examples of sweet grasses in the garden
- Cultivation of sweet grasses as useful plants
The list of sweet grasses is long. It includes both ornamental grasses and useful plants, which are usually referred to as cereals. Hobby gardeners are often surprised which ornamental plants belong to the sweet grasses. Some examples of sweet grass species.
There are over 10,000 types of sweet grass
Sweet grasses - a plant family with countless species
The sweet grasses are one of the large plant families. There are more than 12,000 species worldwide, divided into around 780 genera. Among them are both perennial and annual species.
Not only the plants commonly referred to as grasses belong to the sweet grasses. The list also includes species that don't look like grass at first glance.
Sweet grasses grow in very different locations such as forests, meadows and even deserts. They occur on steppes, meadows and savannas as well as on dunes and are often characteristic of the vegetation there.
Examples of sweet grasses in the garden
In the garden, sweet grasses are grown in borders and perennial beds. Tall species make a good, often evergreen, privacy screen.
Depending on the species, sweet grasses are between ten centimeters and four meters high. The dwarf grass belongs to the small species. Bamboo, on the other hand, grows up to four meters high, and at first glance it doesn’t look like sweet grass at all.
On the list of grasses commonly grown in the garden are:
- all ornamental grasses:
- pampas grass
- japanese grass
- riding grass
- moor grass
- reed
- bamboo
Cultivation of sweet grasses as useful plants
Many of our staple foods belong to the sweet grasses. All grains like rye, wheat, oats, corn, millet and even rice are species of sweet grass.
Within each species there are other subspecies. About 27 different types of oats are known. In contrast, there are only six types of rye.
Incidentally, cereals are not only grown as food. The stalks are also cut to serve as animal feed. In many regions of the world, the leaves are used as a building material or as a material for kitchenware and clothing.
tips
To determine the difference between sweet grasses and sour grasses, look at the stems. Sweet grasses stand out because of their raised knots, which sour grasses lack. In addition, sweet grass stems are slightly triangular and contain pith.