Functional plant families are gaining more importance with increasing emphasis on the importance of diversity for the benefit of the soil.
However, the current focus (as of this writing) is still on the number of species as opposed to the number of plant families. Focusing on species only limits the capacity to see how a mix of plant families brings greater diversity to the soil biology below ground.
For example, one can have a multitude of different species that fall only in one or two plant families. For example, a cover crop mixture of barley, oats, Japanese millet, sorghum, Persian clover, hairy vetch, crimson clover, cowpeas and soybeans covers only two plant families!
It’s similar to a custom-made perennial pasture mixture containing smooth bromegrass, timothy, intermediate wheatgrass, tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, alfalfa, sainfoin, and red clover: this mixture also only contains two plant families.
These two plant families are Graminaceae/Poaceae and Fabaceae, or the Grass and Legume families, respectively.
A third-popular plant family can be included to increase diversity, containing forage rape, mustard, collards, Daikon radish, Tillage radish, canola, rapeseed, and forage brassica. This is the Brassicaceae Family or the Mustard family.
However, what if you want to increase the diversity of a stand to more plant families, more than just three, yet you’re not sure where to begin?
A list of plant families and their encapsulated species is a great place to start.
Note that these lists only include the common species found in perennial pasture/hay and annual forage/cover crop mixes. They do not include weeds, native plants, or other exotic species.
| Plant Family Name | Plant Species |
|---|---|
| Poaceae (Grass Family) | Corn Barley (Little, Common) Oatsfccccc Wheat (Spring, Winter) Rye (Spring, Fall) Triticale (Spring, Winter) Sorghum Sorghum-Sudangrass Sudangrass Millets (Proso, Green, Pearl, Foxtail, etc.) Annual Ryegrass Perennial Ryegrass Teff Grass Festulolium Smooth Bromegrass Meadow Bromegrass Hybrid Bromegrass Timothy Intermediate Wheatgrass Pubescent Wheatgrass Tall Wheatgrass Green Wheatgrass Crested Wheatgrass Tall Fescue Meadow Fescue Kentucky Bluegrass Creeping Red Fescue Meadow Foxtail Creeping Foxtail Orchardgrass Wild Rye (Dahurian, Russian, Canada) |
| Fabaceae (Legume Family) | Crimson Clover Berseem Clover Persian Clover Hairy Vetch Chickling Vetch Common Vetch Crown Vetch Cowpea Chickpea Lentil Faba Bean Dry Bean (Mung, Navy, Pinto) Soybean Peanut Field Peas Pigeonpea Serradella Subterranean Clover Lupin Sunnhemp Lespedeza Fenugreek Alsike Clover Red Clover White Clover Common Alfalfa Siberian/Yellow-flowered Alfalfa Sainfoin Medic (Black, Water) Purple Prairie Clover Cicer Milkvetch Bird’s-foot Trefoil Sweetclover (Yellow/White) |
| Brassicaceae (Mustard Family) | Mustard (White, Brown, Black, Field) Canola Rapeseed Forage Collards Forage Brassica Forage Rape Daikon Radish Tillage Radish False Flax Radish Kale Turnips Broccoli Cabbage Cauliflower |
| Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) | Annual Sunflower Safflower Chicory |
| Chenopodiaceae (Beet Family) | Sugar Beets Common Beet Chard Quinoa Spinach |
| Boraginaceae (Borage Family) | Tansy-leaf Phacelia Borage |
| Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family) | Common Buckwheat |
| Plantagaceae (Plantain Family) | Narrow-leaved Plantain |
| Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) | Amaranth (Red, Prince-of-Wales, Foxtail, Plainsman) |
| Linaceae (Flax Family) | Common Blue Flax |
| Cucurbiteae (Pumpkin Family) | Pumpkin Goard Squash (Acorn, Butternut, Spaghetti, etc.) |
| Apiaceae (Carrot Family) | Carrot Parsnip Fennel Caraway |