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TEXTBOOK OF BOTANY 



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Fig. 331. Ornamental grasses: on the border, eulalia (Miscanthiis .sinensis); the 

 taller grass pictured in the background is the giant reed (Arundo donax) . 



The human race is dependent upon bread, made usually from grasses. 

 Meats, such as beef, mutton, pork, and poultry, as well as other animal 

 products, such as eggs, butter, cheese, and milk, are formed largely 

 from grasses the animals have eaten. Much of the commercial sugar 

 supply is a product of another grass, sugar cane. 



In addition to their use as food by man and by the other animals, 

 grasses are important as sources of building materials, fiber and paper 

 pulp, as stabilizers of soil, and as ornaments ( Fig. 331 ) . In parts of 

 the Orient the bamboo alone is used to make houses and boats, buckets 



