Grassland Plants
Grassland Plants
Hamilton Naturalists' Club
Hamilton, Ontario
The dominant and characteristic plant type in grassland ecosystems is grass!
Grasses are adapted to hot, dry areas: they have long, narrow leaves that lose less water than larger leaves do and their root systems are extensive and deep so that they can acquire water even during drought conditions.
Most grasses are in the family Poaceae and share the grass characteristics of narrow, linear leaves. They often have inconspicuous flowers and rhizomes or stolons (creeping roots or stems) and many have silica throughout their tissue. Silica is what sand is mainly composed of and it makes grass strong and hard to chew and digest. They are very strong growers, accumulating a large amount of biomass each growing season, and their seeds are dispersed by wind or animals.
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