Wiley, New York. Nees Napiergrass, Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. The cereal grasses, rice, wheat, maize, barley, oats, sorghum, and millet supply three-fourths of man's energy and over half of his protein. These, with many forage species provide the grain and forage that animals need to produce the meat, milk, and eggs that supplement the cereal diet of humans.
Grasses feed the world.
They also protect the soil from erosion, cover man's playing fields, and beautify his environment. Grasses and herbivores evolved about the same time. Grasses are cosmopolitan from the equator to the arctic circle. Wherever flowering plants will grow, grasses can be found. Grass tribes may be grouped as Panicoid grasses containing the tropical and subtropical species and Festacoid grasses containing the temperate species.