On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:33:30 -0500, Wally Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>> To us, the seed
>> is the point.  Maybe to primitive man, the plant was the point.
>
> I had not thought about it in those terms. It's very possible grain  
> plants
> were harvested for parts other than the seed (especially soon after  
> sprouti
> ng).

Some wheat was grown for thatch - note W. Shakespear's lines about an army  
hiding in a wheat field. Modern species are much shorter.
Flax was and is grown for linen.

Are other non-food uses known?


William