Description: Very tall, stout perennial grass up to 15 feet high, with solid yellowish-green canes 3/4 to 2 inches thick, rich green leaves, arching.

Uses: Cane sugar, cane syrup, molasses, wax, and rum are products of sugarcane. Molasses is used as a sweetener, in industrial alcohol, for explosives, synthetic rubber, and in combustion engines. Fresh cane stems are often chewed, especially by poorer people. Sugar is used as a preservative for fruits and meats; cane is also made into a liqueur. The young unexpanded inflorescence of 'tebu telur' is eaten raw, steamed or toasted, and prepared in various ways. Refuse cane (bagasse) is used in the manufacture of paper, cardboard, and fuel. The reeds are made into pens, mats, screens, and thatch. Sugar is a common adjunct to unpleasant medicines. Some races are considered magical and are used ceremoniously.
Reported to be antidote, antiseptic, antivinous, bactericide, cardiotonic, demulcent, diuretic, intoxicant, laxative, pectoral, piscicide, refrigerant, and stomachic. It is a folk remedy for arthritis, bedsores, boils, cancer, colds, cough, diarrhea, dysentery, eyes, fever, hiccups, inflammation, laryngitis, opacity, penis, skin, sores, sore throat, spleen, tumors, and wounds

Culture: Propagated by stem cuttings, but seed produced in the tropics assist in the production of cvs through hybridization. Lime in the soil is considered beneficial for the proper development of the sugar content of the canes. Manuring is indispensible as the crop is an exhausting one. It is generally grown for many years in the same ground, without rotation or rest.

James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops. unpublished {from New Crops Website at Purdue}

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Poaceae

Subfamily Bambusoideae Tribe Bambuseae