Poales important order of plants in general. Within the order, by far the most important family economically is the family of grasses (Poaceae, syn. Gramineae), which includes the starch staples barley, maize, millet, rice, and wheat as well as bamboos (mostly used structurally, like wood, but somewhat as vegetables), and a few "seasonings" like sugarcane and lemongrass. Graminoids, especially the grasses, are typically dominant in open (low moisture but not yet arid, or also fire climax) habitats like prairie/steppe and savannah and thus form a large proportion of the forage of grazing livestock. Possibly due to pastoral nostalgia or simply a
Orobanche minor nomenclatural problems that have historically been linked with this species. The common broomrape is highly generalist in its host range, and can infect hundreds of species in families from the Ranunculaceae to the Poaceae (=Gramineae) but with a clear preference for the Fabaceae (=Leguminosae) and Asteraceae (=Compositae). However races occurring on different species of host are genetically divergent and physiologically adapted to their local hosts, and may therefore be in a state of incipient speciation. Urgent conservation efforts are required as the survival of some intraspecific taxa is very uncertain. Orobanche minor Orobanche minor, (hellroot, common broomrape, lesser broomrape, small