Fact #1: Grasses are technically called “graminoids” and are usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves that grow from their base. To break it down even further—there are 3 different types of grasses: Juncaceae (Rushes), Cyperaceae (Sedges, Bullrushes), and Poaceae (Grasses). Good luck remembering those names.
Fact #2: Grasslands are estimated to make up over 20% of the vegetation cover on Earth—that's kind of a big deal. You can find grass in several different types of habitats but they tend to dominate both temperate and tropical areas of land. Check out the visual below to view where natural grasslands are.
Image Source: http://ecosystemgsis.wikispaces.com/
Fact #3: There are over 10,000 types of grass species in the world, which is really quite incredible, but this amount still only makes up a small percentage of all plant species in the world. It's estimated that there are over 1 million plant species and only about 350,000 of those have names.
Fact #4: Grass is old, very old. In fact—scientists have found one species of seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea that dates back to 200,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest living organisms that humans have ever discovered.
Fact #5: Grass is in many of the foods and drinks we consume, including beer, whiskey, and bread. Usually these are in the form of wheatgrass and barley grass so don’t worry, you’re likely not consuming the same stuff that makes up your lawn.
Fact #6: Grass not only makes up a lot of our food consumption, it is used for construction materials and as thatch for roofs throughout the world. The fiber from many grasses is also used in the making of paper.
Fact #7: Grass is green because of the chlorophyll in it, the same chemical that you can find in most plants. Chlorophyll is a bright pigment that absorbs blue and red light but reflects green light, accounting for your lawn’s color.
Image Source: http://myscienceacademy.org/
Fact #8: Grasses have evolved to grow at their base instead of their tips in order to protect themselves unlike most plants. This allows them to be grazed or burned without receiving any damage to their growing points and allows them to regrow quickly.
Fact #9: Grass is essential to many sports around the world such as golf, tennis, and cricket. The most famous grass tennis court in the world is the Centre Court at Wimbledon in England and is considered to be the most expensive lawn in the world and is composed of perennial ryegrass.
Image Source: http://www.e-architect.co.uk
Fact #10: Your typical lawn has about six grass plants per square inch which means the average lawn could have millions of grass plants, and that’s just one lawn! Imagine how many grass plants there are at your local golfing range.
With these facts in mind, it's not hard to see that grass is extremely important and essential to the lives of people and animals all over the world. We take great pride in taking care of the grass on your lawn so if you’re in need of some help with the upkeep, let us help!
Liked this post? Check out our blog post about the most popular myths about lawns.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2254914/
- http://www.thefactsite.com/2010/08/facts-about-grass.html
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/9066393/Ancient-seagrass-Oldest-living-thing-on-earth-discovered-in-Mediterranean-Sea.html
- http://www.biologyreference.com/Gr-Hi/Grasses.html
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