botany Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "bot ...

and

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

, graminoid refers to a

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

with a grass-like morphology, i.e. elongated culms with long, blade-like leaves. They are contrasted to

forbs A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically these are dicots without wo ...

, herbaceous plants without grass-like features. The plants most often referred to include the families Poaceae (grasses in the strict sense),

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus '' Carex'' ...

(sedges), and

Juncaceae Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble grasses and s ...

(rushes). These are not closely related but belong to different clades in the order

Poales The Poales are a large order of flowering plants in the monocotyledons, and includes families of plants such as the grasses, bromeliads, and sedges. Sixteen plant families are currently recognized by botanists to be part of Poales. Descriptio ...

. The grasses (Poaceae) are by far the largest family with some 12,000 species. Besides their similar morphology, graminoids share the widespread occurrence and often dominance in open habitats such as grasslands or

marshes A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

. They can however also be found in the

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English The use of the English language in current and former member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations was largely inherited from British co ...

of forests. Sedges and rushes tend to prefer wetter habitats than grasses. File:Pitrus (Juncus effusus) 05.JPG, alt=Common rush in shallow water, Common rush (''

Juncus effusus ''Juncus effusus'', with the common names common rush or soft rush, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae. In North America, the common name soft rush also refers to ''Juncus interior''. Distribution '' ...

''), Juncaceae File:Cyperus capitatus 01.jpg, alt=Nutsedge on dune, Nutsedge ('' Cyperus capitatus''), Cyperaceae File:Festuca cinerea a1.jpg, alt=Fescue grass tuft, '' Festuca cinerea'', Poaceae

References

{{None Plant morphology Plants by habit Plant life-forms

See also

References