Members of the family Gramineae cultivated as forage and grain for consumption. The grasses are the most useful of all the plants that cover the Earth. The cereal grasses (rice, wheat, maize, rye, barley, oats, sorghum, and the millets) supply directly three-fourths of the energy and over half of the protein in food consumed by humans. Indirectly, these cereals together with the forage grasses supply most of the food for the domestic animals that provide milk, meat, eggs, and much of the draft power required to grow crops. Deer, antelope, rabbits, and many other wild game depend on grasses for much of their sustenance. Sugarcane produces more than half of the world supply of sugar. Starch, and most of the alcohol for beverage and industrial uses, comes from the cereal grasses.