Toni Potter, age 10, of Santa Maria, California for his question:

How many grasses are there besides bamboos?

In most of North America, the bamboo grasses are rather rare, though in some parts of the Southeast, two native bamboos grow tall and form thick, stiff cane breaks. In Santa Maria, and other parts of the Southwrest, gardeners treasure a dainty little shrub called the heavenly bamboo and some people plant stiff, stalky hedges of taller bamboos. About 500 other bamboos grow in tropical countries, But there are eight times as many other masses spreading around the world.

The fancy name for the crass family is Grimineae. Altogether, about 4,500 different species are classed as grasses, about 50 of them bamboos.

Some species of grasses grow only on high desolate slopes, others on lonely prairies or deserts and others in slushy swamps. Some hardy types brow on sandy salt beaches and some thrive ankle deep beside fresh crater streams and lakes. All, the grasses are related to the countless well known species that carpet our fields and wayside. And all of then are wild cousins of the valuable cereal grains cultivated in our fields.

The 4,500 grasses are sorted into smaller genera  coups and each type has a species name of its own. For convenience, experts arrange the great army of grasses into six groups, depending mainly on their usefulness.

The bamboos are grouped as woody grasses, because most of then have stiff woody stems. The group of tough turf grasses are used to carpet lawns and playing fields. Bermuda and zoysia grasses, carpet and centipede brasses are some of the turf species that do best in warmish climates. Bent grasses and Kentucky blue grass make lovely Preen lawns where winters are cool.

Another group is the ornamental grasses, which includes the tall pampas grass with its handsome feathery plumes. In another group is the tall sugar cane, that provides half the worlds sugar, plus fibers for fuel and wallboard.

The other two groups include our most valuable brasses. One is the large assortment of field grasses that provide food for our farm animals.

The last group includes the cultivated cereal grains that provide major items on our menu. Meat and oats, rye and barley are cereal grain: So are rice and corn, millets and sorghum.

All these different plants share certain features. Their roots are rhizomes that spread just below the surface. Their leaves are slim blades with parallel veins and they prow from joints or nodes in the stems. Their stems are usually stiff and hollow, though the stems of corn and a few other grasses are stuffed with soft pithy material. It's nice to know that these useful plants are so sturdy and so plentiful. They provide our daily bread, feed our meat and dairy animals and goodness knows what we would do without then.