What is Poales?
{{Taxobox | name = Poales | image = Dactylis glomerata bluete2.jpeg | image_width = 230px | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | |fossil_range = {{fossil range|66|Recent|[[Upper Cretaceous]] – Recent}} | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Liliopsida]] | ordo = '''Poales''' | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = See text }} '''Poales''' is a [[taxonomy|taxonomic]] [[order (biology)|order]] of [[flowering plant]]s in the [[monocotyledon]]s. The order includes [[family (biology)|families]] of [[plants]] such as the [[Poaceae|grasses]], [[Bromeliaceae|bromeliads]], and [[sedge]]s. Most Poales are wind-pollinated, and so lack the colour and scents of most flowering plants. The bromeliads, however, produce large fruits which are eaten by animals and so act as seed-spreaders. The earliest fossils of Poales date to the late [[Cretaceous]] period, about 66 million years ago. Some suggest the origin of the group may be 115 million years ago in [[South America]].<ref>Bremer K. 2002. Gondwanan evolution of the grass alliance of families (Poales). ''Evolution'' '''56''': 1374–1387. [http://www.bioone.org/bioone/?request=get-abstract&issn=0014-3820&volume=056&issue=07&page=1374 Abstract]</ref> The earliest known fossils include [[pollen]] and fruits. The [[flower]]s are typically small, enclosed by bracts, and arranged in [[inflorescence]]s (except in the genus ''[[Mayaca]]'', with solitary terminal flowers). The flowers of most species are wind pollinated. The seeds usually contain [[starch]]. Among monocots, the Poales come second to the [[Orchid|orchids]] in number of species. But in economic terms, they are far more important. In fact, the true grasses (Poaceae) produce by far the most important grains eaten by humans and other animals. One recent classification lists these families: <ref>Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 2009. An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III. ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' '''161''' (2): 105–