Description

Hardy sugar cane, is a grass native to India in South Asia. Sugarcane is the common name for the genus Saccharum that grows almost entirely in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. The hardiest of the sugarcanes It is evergreen in warm climates but will die back to the ground in winter and come back in spring in colder climates.  Its late flowering time means you do not need to worry about it naturalizing around your yard. It is a large plant so be sure to find an appropriate space with plenty of sun.

Characteristics:

Sweetcane is a vigorous perennial grass forming large clumps of culms 1 - 6 metres tall and 1 - 2cm in diameter The plant is extensively used in India where it supplies food, fibre, materials for thatching, basket making etc. It is also used as a hedge around betel pepper gardens. The plant is also used medicinally. Shrubby perennials; culms solid, to 4 m tall or more, lower nodes 2 cm thick; leaf-sheaths overlapping, glabrous and smooth, fairly tight, as much as 40 cm long; blades generally 2-ranked, long and broad, up to 100 cm x 2.5-5 cm, gradually narrowed to the base, broadest below the middle and tapering into a long, acuminate, fairly smooth point, the midrib prominent, whitish; ligule a shallow membranous rim, bordered by dense stiff hairs. Inflorescence terminal panicle, 30-80 x 15 cm, the branches glabrous except the finer ones which may bear spreading silky hairs like those on the spikelets, forming successive whorls along the axis, each branch a raceme which breaks up into units consisting of a joint and its sessile spikelets together with the pedicels of the pedicelled spikelet, the ripe pedicelled spikelet falling away entire.

Uses:

The leaf sheathes are a source of fibre, known as 'Munj fibre'. Strong and elastic, it has the wonderful power of enduring moisture without decaying. It is used for making cloth, cordage, ropes, mats etc. The mats are reported to be proof against white ants, but are hard on shoe-leather, harsh to the foot and fatiguing when walked on for any length of time. The leaf blades, and also the flowering stems, are used for thatching The stems are used for making chairs, stools, baskets, screens etc.