You may think grass doesn’t affect your daily life too much, but grass actually affects a lot of things in your life, from air to alcohol. Here at Seed World Europe, we thought you’d enjoy reading some of the interesting facts about the plant family that you’ll find on your plate, likely every day, and which grows on your lawn. Here’s a couple of fun grass facts we bet you didn’t know.
A HUGE FAMILY
OK, first things first, if we talk grasses, we’re officially talking about the family Poaceae (also called Gramineae). This is a very large family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass. And with around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, the Poaceae is the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae.
THE FAMILY THAT HELPED MAKE US HUMAN
Around 3.5 million years ago, our ancestors seem to have changed their diet from eating exclusively fruits to include grasses. Scientists believe that this change could have been an important factor in their survival and evolution from hominids to humans.
And then, about a million years ago, people began cooking grasses to eat. It’s believed this was a key factor in humans growing a larger brain because the cooked starch in seeds provided a huge hit of energy. In the space of a few thousand years there was around a tenfold increase in the world population of humans, largely fuelled by starch.
GLOBAL IMPORTANCE
The grass family is the most abundant plant family on Earth, and economically it is also the most important food source for the world’s human and animal populations.
It is providing staple foods from domesticated cereal crops such as maize, wheat, rice, oats, barley, and millet for people but also as feed for meat-producing animals.
CONSERVING WATER AND CLEANING THE AIR
When grass plants take root and grow beneath the soil, the roots act as an anchor for all the loose soil and sand. As such, it keeps prairies, hillsides and your lawn from eroding away due to rain and wind. In addition, grass helps trap water by storing it in their roots and blades. It also cleans the air by producing oxygen in the process of photosynthesis, but also by trapping airborne dust particles and other contaminants. So, in addition to being a vital food source, this plant family is a key player in water filtration, reducing soil erosion, increasing atmospheric carbon sequestration, and promoting oxygen production.
KEEPING YOUR HOUSE COOL
A green lawn can help with your home comfort. This is because a green and well cared for lawn can make your home a little cooler and reduce the use of your air conditioner during the summer months. Green grass — compared to dirt, concrete blacktops or even dry, brown grass — absorbs sunlight instead of simply reflecting it. As a result, your home will not get heat reflected back on it which would make it hotter indoors. Another fun fact: a healthy lawn can increase a home’s value by up to 20%.
THERE’S A LOT OF GRASS ON EARTH
This plant family grows worldwide on all continents, even in polar regions. Antarctic hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica) is the only member of the Poaceae family native to Antarctica. In fact, grasslands make up most of the Earth and are actually some of the largest ecosystems in the world. It’s estimated that 20 – 40 % of the Earth is covered in grassland. Not to mention around 800 million people depend on grasslands for agriculture and their livelihood.
WAIT, WHAT? PALM TREES ARE GRASS?
Grasses are monocots, and monocots are classified as flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. Due to their biological makeup, palm trees are technically classified as a very tall grass, but due to their large size, they are often categorized as trees.
THE OLDEST LIVING ORGANISM
Scientists have managed to find a species of grass, the Neptune seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) which is likely the oldest living organism on Earth. A single patch of seagrass found in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain is estimated to be between 80,000 and 200,000 years old.
THE MOST EXPENSIVE LAWN IN THE WORLD
As most of you know, a lot of sports require grass to play on, like tennis, football, golf, and so on. Did you know that the most expensive lawn in the world just so happens to be in England at the Centre Court at Wimbledon? This very famous tennis court has around 54 million single grass plants and these require a lot of maintenance. From March onwards, the grass shoots get trimmed gradually from their winter height of 13mm down to the optimum playing level of 8mm. Every day during the tournament, the ground staff mow the courts, and an independent turf consultant measures the surface’s hardness, its chlorophyll index and its live grass content. This determines the precise amount of water that gets sprayed on the grass at night.
WEMBLEY STADIUM TURF LOSES 3% OF ITS GRASS EVERY MATCH
The temperature, moisture content and salinity of the Wembley soil is carefully monitored and controlled by ground staff, in order to bring the grass back to its peak condition as quickly as possible after each game. The pitch has under-soil heating to help maintain optimum conditions. And large fans (of the air circulating type) are used to dry the surface to limit the spread of disease.
THE WORLD’S FIRST “KEEP OFF THE GRASS” SIGN
In 1785, it was ordered that any member of Worcester College in the UK who walked on the grass in the “quadrant” would be charged half a crown.
HOLD ON, SO WHY IS GRASS GREEN?
Grass is green because of photosynthesis. Grass contains a special pigment, much like flamingos and carrots, that reacts and causes its colour to always be green. That special pigment is chlorophyll. During the process of photosynthesis, chlorophyll absorbs blue and red light, and reflects green light, making the grass appear green.
GRASS IS USED FOR OTHER MATERIALS TOO
Grass has other uses besides as food or for landscaping purposes. It’s also used for construction material, like as thatch for roofs, and the fibres of certain grasses are used to make paper.
GRASS IS USED TO MAKE ALCOHOL
Many popular alcoholic beverages (with the exception of wine) are produced using various grasses. Barley, rye, and wheat are all used to make whiskey, while rice is used to make sake. Parties just wouldn’t be the same without the grass family to make our favourite cocktails.
YOU CAN WEAR THE SMELL OF CUT GRASS
Inhale the delightful smell of cut grass and what you’re smelling is a chemical compound called coumarin. This is among the most popular ingredients in perfumes, being included in almost 90%. So, you too can smell like a freshly mown village green!
THE TALL AND THE SMALL
Species in the grass family range from a few millimetres tall to giants like Dendrocalamus giganteus — one of the largest bamboo species in the world. Its 30m stems are used for everything from water pipes to boat masts to parquet flooring. And then there is Dendrocalamus sinicus, also known as “Giant Dragon Bamboo”, which is the largest bamboo in the world. It has the tallest and biggest culms of any known bamboo species which can reach up to 46 meters in height, and up to 37 cm in diameter. Under favourable conditions, these plants can grow up to 40 cm per day!
