If you go to the store and want to buy some grass seed, you’ll probably have a choice of a dozen kinds. That seems like quite a variety of grasses—but it doesn’t give you any idea at all of the true picture.

True grasses, as they are classified scientifically, include such things as corn, wheat, rye, barley, rice, and oats! As a matter of fact, there are actually about 4,500 kinds of grasses.

We know that the tallest of grasses, the bamboo, grows in warm climates to a height of more than 30 meters. The shortest grass, a pygmy variety of the Arctic Regions, may be only 5 centimeters tall.

The true grasses are distinguished from other plants in that the leaves are arranged in two opposite rows on the stem, with a single leaf at each joint. The leaf veins run in a regular, more or less parallel, arrangement. The flowers are usually not brightly colored.

In the United States alone, there are more than 1,500 varieties of grasses! A common cultivated grass is timothy, which is grown for hay and pasturage. Timothy grows in meadows and fields and along waysides throughout nearly all of North America.

One of the most famous and important American grasses is Kentucky bluegrass (June grass, spear grass). Its nutritious leaves and stems make it a rich pasture for stock. The quality of the bluegrass of Kentucky and the surrounding regions has made this region famous as a horse-breeding center. Because of its blue-green beauty and because it makes a dense, hardy turf when closely clipped, this grass is popular for lawns, parks, and golf courses in the northern United States.

When you realize the great variety of grasses that exist, it Is not surprising that many of them serve as important sources of food and other purposes. In fact, most of the world’s sugar comes from a grass, the sugar cane.