The earliest fossils, including pollen and flowers, have been recovered from late Cretaceous deposits.
The reed grasses of the subfamily Arundinoideae were probably far less widespread in Africa 35 million years ago (Ma) than they are today, but it is fairly likely that other Poales reeds—Cyperaceae (maybe including the ancestors of the Papyrus Sedge Cyperus papyrus), Juncaceae and Typhaceae—grew in aquatic habitats back then already.