**8. Concluding remarks**

In Indigenous cultures throughout northern North America (US and Canada), native grasses are gathered for medicine, clothing, domestic products, technology uses and fuel. Of the nearly 900 native grasses found in North America north of Mexico [163], only two native genera in the Poaceae have been domesticated for food, wild rice (*Zizania* spp.) and maize (Zea mays) was domesticated about 7000 years ago from a wild ancestor (*Zea mexicana* (Schrad.) Kuntze), commonly called teosinte [177]. Traditional knowledge of plants and their uses has always been transferred from generation to generation through everyday life activities [178, 179].

As the world grows in population and becomes increasingly urbanized, the connection to Poaceae as a source of food, medicine and other uses is diminished, as is TEK transfer. The need to find cereals more resilient to climate change is increasing in order to feed growing populations and avoid famine. Grasses have been moved around the planet intentionally (for cereal production, pasture, forage, turf and lawn) and over 400 introduced grass species have been recorded in the US and Canada [163]. Many are deemed to be invasive or weedy species, yet they have adapted to their new environment, and in some cases, thrive better than in their native habitat. As I have described in the case studies, many grasses used for ornamental or agricultural purposes, or are declared weeds, have great human utility in their native regions that is poorly understood, if at all in their new locations.

Recognizing the utility of all Poaceae—for food, medicine, fuel—as we know from TEK, traditional science, and the historical record must become a priority for those using grass in urban design, whether for sports turf, front lawns or ornamental plantings. And lastly, humans need to determine whether their survival is dependent on grasses devoted to sports turf, front lawns or ornamental plantings, or whether those spaces should be used, for example, to cultivate edible and medicinal grasses, while the residues are converted to biofuel.
