
Cover image

On the Cover: Grasses, with approximately 10,000 species that have evolved over the last 60 million years, show great morphological diversity. The cover illustration features a few examples of this diversity, along with some of the many cereal grains that were the focus of multiple domestication events in the family. The lower panel shows a biomass yield trial of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), a promising crop for cellulosic ethanol production, while at the top is a field of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) [both in field trials at Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma]. The center panel shows multiple grass species and grass grains, including grains of rice (Oryza sativa), spelt (Triticum spelta), barley (Hordeum vulgare), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), rye (Secale cereale), corn (Zea mays), and oat (Avena sativa), and, from the left, inflorescences and plants of bamboo (Phyllostachyus aureosulcata), Paspalum ramosum, foxtail millet (Setaria italica), rice, emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides), corn, and Coix lachrymajobii. Cover image and key by Andrew Doust.