To date, more than 350 thousand plant species are known. Of these, about 60,000 species fall into the class Monocots. At the same time, this class includes the two most common families in terms of habitat and economic importance:
- Lily.
- family Cereals or Bluegrass.
Let's take a closer look at the Cereal family.
Taxonomy of cereals
The place in this family is occupied by the following:
Kingdom of Plants.
Subkingdom Multicellular.
Class Monocots.
Family Cereals.
All representatives of this family are combined into 900 genera. The total number of representatives is about 11,000 species. Plants of the Cereal family are found both in meadow and cultivated plants, which are of great agricultural importance.
Growing conditions and distribution
The Cereal family occupies very extensive habitats due to its unpretentiousness, moisture and drought resistance (not all species). Therefore, we can say that they cover almost the entire land, with the exception of Antarctica and ice-covered territories.
This immediately makes it clear that plants of the Cereal family are very unpretentious to growing conditions. So, for example, representatives of meadow grasses (timothy grass, bluegrass, couch grass, hedgehog, bonfire and others) quite calmly endure the adverse conditions of winter and the heat of summer.
Cultivated plants (rye, oats, wheat, rice) are already more demanding, however, they are also able to survive rather high air temperatures.
Almost all representatives, which include the Cereal family, are equally neutral towards sunlight. Representatives of meadows, steppes, pampas, savannas are plants accustomed to harsh conditions, and cultivated species are constantly cared for and processed by humans, so they also feel comfortable during periods of low light.
General characteristics of the family
The Cereal family includes both annuals and biennials, and most often perennials. Outwardly, they are usually similar, as they have similar leaves. Their stalk has clear distinguishing features from the stems of other plants - it is completely empty inside and is a hollow tube, which is called a culm.
The large number of representatives of the family is explained by their economic importance: some plants are used for livestock feed, others for processing and obtaining grain and starch, others for protein, and fourth for decorative purposes.
Morphological features
The external (morphological) features of the Cereal family can be described in several points.
- Straw stalk (except corn and reed), hollow inside.
- The internodes on the stem are well defined.
- In some representatives, the stem becomes woody during life (bamboo).
- The leaves are simple, sessile, with a pronounced sheath covering the stem.
- The leaf shape is elongated
- The arrangement of sheet plates is next.
- type, sometimes underground shoots turn into rhizomes.
All representatives that form the Cereal family have such signs.
flower formula
During the flowering period, plants of this family are very unremarkable, as they are prone to self-pollination or cross-pollination. Therefore, it makes no sense for them to form huge bright and fragrant flowers. Their flowers are small, pale, completely inconspicuous. Gathered in inflorescences of different types:
- compound ear (wheat);
- cob (corn);
- panicle (feather grass).
The flowers are the same for everyone, the formula of the flower of the Cereal family is as follows: TsCh2 + Pl2 + T3 + P1. Where TsCh - flower scales, Pl - films, T - stamens, P - pistil.
The formula of the flower of the Cereal family gives a clear idea of the inconspicuousness of these plants during the flowering period, which means that not flowers, but leaves and stems are used for decorative purposes.
Fruit
After flowering, a fruit rich in protein and starch is formed. It is the same for all members of the Cereal family. The fruit is called a grain. Indeed, most people who are far from biology know the term "cereals" itself, and it is associated with grains of agricultural plants called cereals.
However, not only cultivated plants of the Cereal family have such a fruit, but also meadow ones. Grains are rich in vitamins, gluten, protein, starch.
Representatives of cereals
As mentioned above, in total there are about 11,000 plants that form the Cereal family. Their representatives are found among wild and cultivated plant species.
Wild representatives:
- timothy;
- bonfire;
- feather grass;
- wheatgrass;
- bamboo;
- wheatgrass;
- fescue;
- wild oats;
- bristle and others.
Most representatives of wild-growing Cereals are inhabitants of the steppes, meadows, forests, savannahs.
Cultivated plants that form the Cereal family, form their fruit under the influence of different environmental conditions. That is why, in order to obtain grain of decent quality, many of the representatives of the Cereals were turned into home crops, which are properly cared for. These include:
- rye;
- wheat;
- sugar cane;
- oats;
- millet;
- barley;
- sorghum;
- corn and others.
Cultivated plants are of great economic importance for the forage base of the entire country.
annual plants
Annual plants include those that go through the entire life cycle in one. That is, all the basic life processes - growth, flowering, reproduction and death - fit into one season.
It is difficult to give an example of any one annual plant of the Cereal family. There are actually quite a few of them. Consider a few of the most common and commercially important.
- Kaoliang. A plant from the genus Sorghum, is on a par with rye, wheat and so on.
- Durra or Jugarra. Also a fodder plant, which is most common in the southern parts of the Earth. It is used not only as a grain crop, but as hay and silage for animal nutrition.
- Bonfire. A widespread plant in the grass family, which is often accepted and regarded as a weed. It grows on any soil, unpretentious to heat and moisture, can do without sunlight for a long time. It is used only for animal nutrition, its fruits have no economic value.
- Corn. One of the most common agricultural crops in many countries of the world. Oils, flour are obtained from corn grains, the grains themselves are used directly in boiled form.
- Foxtail. A herbaceous plant that belongs to both annual and perennial forms. The main value is the formation of grass cover in meadows (flooded). Goes to feed animals.
- Panic. Southern agricultural annual crop, which is grown not only for livestock feed, but also as a food plant for valuable grain. Heat-loving and light-loving, does not grow in Russia.
- Bluegrass. There are several varieties of representatives of this genus, but all of them are steppe or meadow grasses that are of industrial importance as livestock feed.
- Millet. Includes many types. Of the variety in Russia, there are only 6 species, some of which are used for decorative purposes. The second part is used to obtain nutritious grain for animal feed.
perennial plants
Most of the plants in the family are perennials. That is, they consist of several seasons (vegetation periods). They are able to survive the adverse conditions of winter periods without loss of viability. Many of them form the Cereal family. The characteristics of such plants are very extensive. Consider some of the most important representatives in economic terms.
- Wheat. The most widespread crop in terms of world area, which is valued for the nutrients of its grain.
- Wheatgrass. Many people know him as a malicious weed. However, this is not its only meaning. This plant is a valuable fodder base for animal nutrition.
- Rice. A very important agricultural crop, not inferior to wheat in terms of value and nutritional value of grain. Cultivated in the Eastern regions of the world.
- Rye. One of the most sought after cereals after wheat and rice. A large number of these plants are grown here in Russia. The nutritional value of grain is high.
- Sugar cane. His homeland is India, Brazil and Cuba. The main nutritional value of this crop is the extraction of sugar.
Agricultural crops Cereals
In addition to the above listed, sorghum can also be attributed to agricultural crops of this family. This plant has all the characteristics of the Cereal family, and also has valuable grain. In our country, sorghum is not grown, as it is a very heat-loving plant. However, in the countries of Africa, Australia, South America, this is a very valuable commercial crop.
Sorghum grains are ground into flour, and parts of the stem and leaves are fed to livestock. In addition, furniture is made from leaves and stems, beautiful interior items are woven.
Barley can also be attributed to important agricultural crops. This plant does not require special conditions for growth, therefore it is easily cultivated in the territories of many countries. The main value of grain goes to brewing, obtaining pearl barley and barley groats, and also goes to animal feed.
Also, barley infusions are of great importance in folk and traditional medicine (remedies for diseases of the liver and gastrointestinal tract).
Nutritional value of cereal grains
Why are the grains of the representatives that form the Cereal family so important and widely applicable? Characteristics of the composition of the grain will help to understand this.
Firstly, all grains of Cereals contain protein, just the amount of it in different representatives varies. Wheat varieties are considered to have the highest content of gluten protein.
Secondly, cereal grains contain starch, which means they have sufficient nutritional value and are able to form flour.
Thirdly, a crop such as rice contains a lot of vitamins of different groups, which makes it even more useful.
Obviously, the full use of cereals provides the body with a set of all the daily necessary substances. That is why they are so popular all over the world.