Plants Called Grasses That Are Not Grasses

When I mow my lawn, I say that I am cutting my grass. But many plants are called “grass” without really being a grass. The website www.wikipedia.com has some enlightening details.

“In popular language grass means a short, green, ground covering or lawn, usually, but not necessarily comprised of a “true grass” or grasses, called turf.

In botany, grass refers to plants of the family Poaceae. These are the true grasses.

Plants that are not true grasses include:

China grass (or remie or rhea) ( Boehmeria nivea ), a nettle grown for bast fibres, in the family Urticaceae

Ditch grass or Wigeon grass ( Ruppia maritima ) in the family Ruppiaceae

Fish grass ( Cabomba caroliniana )

Goosegrass ( Galium aparine )

Mondo grass or lily turf ( Ophiopogon japonicus ), an Asian ornamentalground cover

Nutgrass, a common lawn pest ( Cyperus rotundus ) in the family Cyperaceae

Pepper grasses ( Lipidium spp.)in the family Brassicaceae

Sawgrass, abundant in sub-tropical marshlands ( Cladium spp.) in the family Cyperaceae

Scurvy-grass ( Cochlearia species) in the family Brassicaceae

Scurvy-grass Sorrel ( Oxalis enneaphylla ) in thefamily Oxalidaceae

Seagrasses, including Eel grass ( Zostera spp.)

Sleeping grass ( Mimosa pudica ) a legume (family Fabaceae) and lawn pest

Xyridaceae, known as the yellow-eyed grass family”

And to this list I add monkeygrass (Liriope) and blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium albidum).