"It is no coincidence that the grasslands of the mid continental regions of the world are known as “bread baskets.” Photo courtesy of J. Kleffner

I love and hate this time of year. In my late teens, I developed hay fever, and through careful observation, it has become obvious that the cause of my itchy eyes and runny nose is grass pollen. Yet I love grasses. I have always found the myriad shapes, sizes and colors delightful. Have you ever looked closely at grass?

Back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, it is thought that there were few flowering plants, better known to scientists as angiosperms. (Angiosperm translates to seed receptacle. Angiosperms have seeds that are covered and protected by a “fruit”.) Angiosperms now make up over 80% of all plants on earth, and grasses are one of the largest families.

Grasses have flowers? Yes! But the flowers have no petals, making them difficult to notice unless you look closely. Without the showy petals to attract pollinators, grasses resort to producing copious amounts of pollen. This time of year the tops of grasses take on a unique and short lived appearance, as the stamens, or pollen producing organs, dangle out of the future seed heads, trusting the wind to do the work of fertilization.

Botanists, (scientists who study plants) often throw up their hands and retreat when it comes to identifying grasses.  It takes a lot of close observation, timing and patience to tell some of these species apart. Why bother?

The grasses are one of the most important plant families to humans. Most of our staple foodstuffs  come from grasses, including wheat, rice, oats, barley, rye, and corn. (Yes, corn is a grass!) Sugar cane and bamboo (used as a construction material all over Asia) are also grasses. Grasses are also an important forage crop for livestock. Grasses posses the unique ability to grow from their nodes, where the leaves attach to the stem. This allows them to regrow, often more vigorously, after being grazed by livestock (or your lawnmower).

Grasslands are also an important ecosystem. The grasslands of prairies and savannas produce vast amounts of plant matter, especially from their roots. This matter eventually breaks down, producing rich soil. It is no coincidence that the grasslands of the mid continental regions of the world are known as “bread baskets”.

The complexity of this ecosystem has became more apparent as man has changed it for his own uses.  The dust storms of the 1930’s were a direct result of drought coupled with a lack of understanding of how prairie ecosystems worked. Once the grasses were plowed up for crops, there were no roots left to hold the soil when the rains failed to come. One Great Plains dust storm deposited four pounds of soil for every person living in the city of Chicago. Scientists today still work to understand and protect this precious resource.