First Published August 2020
Super Grass
A wonderful plant. Item by the Energy Syndicate
Many of us regularly cut it, wrench it out of borders, walk all over it and hardly acknowledge it as a valued living thing. Grass however, in all its forms is possibly the most essential plant on earth supporting the majority of land based life. If you were to wake up tomorrow to find all the grass had disappeared, life would not be able to continue as we know it. So as a mark of appreciation for such an overlooked treasure here are a few points to note about grass. It quite literally enables us to raise a glass to its success.
There are around 12000 grass species, distributed on every continent including Antarctica. It is one of the most widely distributed plants covering about 30% of the land. Unlike most other plants, grasses have evolved to grow from nearer to their roots which makes them almost indestructible. Grass is an incredible survivor, able to withstand flooding, frost and even fire.
Grasses naturally dominate habitats such as steppes, salt marshes and savannas. They are also the predominant focus of human agriculture. Grasses are the worlds single most important source of food. Wheat, oats, barley, corn and rye are consumed as cereals, sweetening such as sugars from sugar cane and of course beer and whisky are all derived from grasses. Human reliance on grasses is huge- 70% of all crops grown are grasses. Dairy and meat products largely come from grass eating animals. Wheat, corn and rice provide more than half the calories consumed by humans in the world.
Grass is the starting point for most of the rich biodiversity across the land. Grasses bind the soil, stabilizing it preventing erosion. It also has the ability to find a foothold where there is practically nothing from which habitats can develop over time.
In short, grass is amazing. Darwin talks about the survival of the fittest but the fittest has to be the world as a whole with a balance and harmony. If grass ceases to exist – we all fall down. If we cease to exist ‘grass’ will carry on regardless – which life form is the ‘fittest’? So next time you are out for a walk in the countryside or mowing your lawn – just spare a little thought for what the world has done for you.
