Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poace family, as well as the sedges and the rushes. The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns and grassland. Sedges include many wild marsh and grassland plants, and some cultivated ones such as water chestnut and papyrus sedge. Uses for graminoids include food, drink, pasture for livestock, thatch, paper, fuel, clothing, insulation, construction, sports turf, basket weaving and many others.

Many types of animals eat grass as their main source of food, and are called graminivores – these include cattle, sheep, horses, rabbits and many invertebrates, such as grasshoppers and the caterpillars of many brown butterflies. Grasses are also eaten by omnivorous or even occasionally by primarily carnivorous animals.

In the study of ecological communities, herbaceous plants are divided into graminoids and forbs, which are herbaceous dicotyledons, mostly with broad leaves.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass - 04.08.2010