EN
The grasses (Poaceae, Gramineae) arc one of the largest (coming after Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Orchidaceae) and most important plant family. Over 30% of the land area of the earth is covered in natural grasslands : steps, savannas, prairies or campos. Besides the grasses are dominant in man's agriculture and have contributed to his industrial development. They are an essential form of plant life without which civilisation would not exist in the past and today. The grasses have been appeared on the earth in the beginning of Tertiary, however the place of their origination is discussed up to present. This family is included taxonomically in Monocotyledoneae and divided usually into 5-6 subfamilies. Since a long time grasses were the subject of men interest both in respect to their structure and life. They have many distinctive features, concerning embryology, physiology, and especially, morphology and anatomy. Owing to these characters grasses show a great adaptability to changeable natural and disturbed habitats, occurring under nearly all conditions where exist soil and moisture. For this reason they play very important role in the process of the recolonisation of devastated areas.