EN
The study attempts to present classification of grasses according to the purpose of their utilisation as well as classification of their functions they fulfil both in man's economical activity and natural environment. The evaluation of functions was performed on the basis of literature data and our own investigations in this field. The presented paper is a review but also tries to present the author's own concepts. There is no doubt that grasses as a taxonomical unit contributed uniquely to the economic and civilisation development of the world. This is particularly true with reference to the group of cultivated grasses, especially cereal and fodder grasses. In recent years, the role of non-fodder grasses - such as lawn, turf, ornamental and industrial grasses - have gained in importance. The group of non-cultivated grasses was divided into fodder grasses (meadow, pasture and forest grasses) and non-fodder grasses (forest and maritime grasses, grasses grown on difficult sites). The adopted classification considered the following as other then fodder function of grasses: a. Production function • Basic (establishment and production of lawns) • Secondary (production of litter, production of fuel material, production of raw material used in house construction, source of cellulose, in herb-cultivation) b. Non-production function • Ecological (soil protection against erosion, formation of special microclimate, barrier for the migration of biogens, sewage treatment, re-cultivation of soil as well as reclamation of degraded and derelict land, improvement of soil fertility) • Landscaping and aesthetic (one of the elements in landscape formation, making of nower bunches, element adding colour and beauty). Grasses occurring in natural and anthropogenic grass communities as well as in agricultural or non-agricultural crops play a very important ecological, landscape and cultural role and as such, they still remain a group of plants which is surprisingly little known and even less appreciatcd. The variety of functions which they fulfil makes it necessary to try to recognise them better and to use them rationally so that they can be preserved for future generations. They are a providential gift and the man should take a very good care of them.