Meaning & use
Poaceae
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Meaning
proper nounproperbiologytechnical
The scientific name for the grass family, which includes wheat, rice, maize, sugarcane and bamboo.
Grammar: Always capitalized and usually written in italics in science; used without an article.
Patterns
- a member of the Poaceae
- belongs to the Poaceae
Wheat, barley and rice all belong to the Poaceae.
Botanists place bamboo in the family Poaceae, although it grows as tall as a tree.
The Poaceae includes more than ten thousand species worldwide.
Common combinations
- family Poaceae
- The family Poaceae supplies most of the world's staple foods.
- member of the Poaceae
- Corn is a member of the Poaceae.
- Poaceae species
- Many Poaceae species grow on open prairies.
- within the Poaceae
- Within the Poaceae, bamboo forms its own subfamily.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Gramineae
- Gramineae is the older formal name for the same family, still allowed in botany but less common today.
- grass family
- Grass family is the everyday English phrase for what scientists call Poaceae.
Word family
Commonly confused: Poaceae or Fabaceae?
Poaceae vs Fabaceae
Fabaceae is the pea and bean family, a different group of plants altogether.
Practice
A botanist says that rice, wheat and bamboo all belong to the same family. Which family is she most likely naming?
Choose one answer.
Poaceae is the grass family and includes cereals and bamboo. Fabaceae are legumes, Rosaceae include roses and apples, and Asteraceae are daisies.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Poaceae”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.