Mary Allen
Grasses are specific plants. They have long narrow leaves. The flowers are so small that you have to look closely to spot them. When grass covers an entire area, it is called a meadow or one says, for example: “The farmer mows the grass.”
In biology, there is the sweet grass family and the sour grass family. The sweet grasses are very important, because all cereals, i.e. wheat, rye, corn, rice, and many others, have been cultivated from them. Without them, the world could not feed itself today. But the natural species such as meadows or pastures, steppes, and savannahs are also important because many animals graze there. Their stems are called culms. They are mostly hollow and have knots.
Sourgrass plants only exist in untouched nature. They are also known as sedges. Their stems are slightly thicker and slightly triangular. They contain marrow like our bones. There are no knots on these stems. There are different types of sour grasses in Central Europe. They usually grow on damp ground, for example in bogs, wet meadows, and swamps. But they also exist on dunes where it is dry.
The flowers of the grass form a lot of pollen. These are the small particles of the male flowers. In the spring, the wind carries away millions of such pollens, and we get them in our noses too. Many people don’t mind. However, others have an allergy to it: they have to sneeze, their nose is constantly running or it gets blocked. There is also discomfort in the eyes: they turn red and begin to water.