Poaceae or Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass.
The Poaceae are the world’s single most important source of food. They rank among the top five families of flowering plants in terms of the number of species, but they are clearly the most abundant and important family of the Earth’s flora.