Saccharum spontaneum at the bank of rever Ganges 07102013 01

''Saccharum spontaneum'' (wild sugarcane, Kans grass) is a

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

native to the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with spreading

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow h ...

roots. In the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands, a lowland

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas o ...

at the base of the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

range in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

, kans grass quickly colonises exposed silt plains created each year by the retreating

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

floods, forming almost pure stands on the lowest portions of the floodplain. Kans grasslands are an important habitat for the

Indian rhinoceros } The Indian rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros unicornis''), also called the Indian rhino, greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red Lis ...

(''Rhinoceros unicornis''). In Nepal, kans grass is harvested to thatch roofs or fence vegetable gardens. Elsewhere, its ability to quickly colonize disturbed soil has allowed it to become an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

that takes over croplands and pasturelands, as has been documented in the Republic of Panama.

Uses

''Saccharum spontaneum'' has a considerable number of regional names in the Indian Subcontinent, for instance ''kash'' (কাশ) being common in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

, ''kohuwa'' (কঁহুৱা) in

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

, ''kasatandi'' (କାଶତଣ୍ଡୀ) in

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

and ''Kasi'' (खासि) in

Bodo Bodo may refer to: Ethnicity * Boro people, an ethno-linguistic group mainly from Northwest Assam, India * Bodo-Kachari people, an umbrella group from Nepal, India and Bangladesh that includes the Bodo people Culture and language * Boro cu ...

. It is used in

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repor ...

. This plant has hybridized with ''

Saccharum officinarum ''Saccharum officinarum'' is a large, strong-growing species of grass in the genus '' Saccharum''. Its stout stalks are rich in sucrose, a simple sugar which accumulates in the stalk internodes. It originated in New Guinea, and is now cultivate ...

'', a domesticated sugarcane. The hybridization may have produced ''

Saccharum barberi ''Saccharum sinense'' or ''Saccharum'' × ''sinense'', synonym ''Saccharum'' × ''barberi'', sugarcane, is strong-growing species of grass ( Poaceae) in the genus ''Saccharum''. It is originally cultivated in Guangzhou, China where it is still ...

'' and ''

Saccharum sinense ''Saccharum sinense'' or ''Saccharum'' × ''sinense'', synonym ''Saccharum'' × ''barberi'', sugarcane, is strong-growing species of grass ( Poaceae) in the genus ''Saccharum''. It is originally cultivated in Guangzhou, China where it is still ...

''. Thanks to a set of species-related orphane genes, ''Saccharum spontaneum'' exhibits exceptional resistance to

biotic stress Biotic stress is stress that occurs as a result of damage done to an organism by other living organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, beneficial and harmful insects, weeds, and cultivated or native plants. It is different from abiot ...

es such as nematodes,

fungi A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

and other pests and diseases, and

abiotic stress Abiotic stress is the negative impact of non-living factors on the living organisms in a specific environment. The non-living variable must influence the environment beyond its normal range of variation to adversely affect the population performan ...

es such as cold, drought, salinity and nutritionally deficient soil.

References

External links

* spontaneum Flora of the Indian subcontinent Grasses of India Flora of Bangladesh Flora of Bhutan Flora of Nepal Plants described in 1771 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Panicoideae-stub

Uses

See also

References

External links