Abstract: Examinations were made on the morphology of caryopses of 324 grass species representing over 109 genera and 31 tribes. The evolutionary tendency of the important characteristics and the relation with distribution areas and habitats are discussed. According to the shape of caryopses, the morphology of ventral faces and hilum, the proportion of embryos to caryopses in size, the existence or absence of the top fine hairs, the persistence or shedding of styles, the size of fruits and especially the outline of the middle cross section, etc., the caryopses may be divided into three major types and seven subtypes: Bambusoid (including True Bambusoid, Arundinoid, Oryzoid, Stipoid), Panicoid (including True Panicoid, Eragrostoid) and Pooid (including the Subtype Pooid only). In this study, the different types of caryopses are found to be correlated with the characteristics of embryos, seedlings, habits and chromosomes, and on these grounds, the genera of the Gramineae are grouped into seven corresponding subfamilies: Bambusoideae, Oryzoideae, Arundinoideae, Stipoideae, Eragrostoideae, Panicoideae and Pooideae.

Key words: Gramineae, caryopses, systematics