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Article: Monocots
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- Plant Sciences
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Monocots
The monocotyledons (or, in abbreviated form, the monocots), class Liliopsida, are one of the major groups of flowering plants (angiosperms). There are about 100 families and 67,000 species of monocots, and the monocots consequently represent about one-fourth of the approximately 250,000 species of flowering plants. Some of the larger families of monocots are the grass family (Poaceae, or Gramineae), palm family (Arecaceae, or Palmae), and orchid family (Orchidaceae).
Economic and Ecologic Importance
Many of the most important plant species grown for human consumption are in the grass family, which includes rice, corn (maize), wheat, rye, barley, teff, millet, and other species. ...