SACCHARUM 



OFFICINARUM THE SUGAR-CANE PLANT 



History 



flowering stem, used in the manufacture of chairs, stools, tables, baskets and 

 screens ; and tilak, tilon or ghua are names that denote the flowers. Some of 

 these names, such as munj and sara, have been supposed to denote the products 

 of different species, instead of different parts of one and the same plant, hence ha? 



Paper. originated much of the confusion that prevails. Sara is used in paper-making- 



and munj as a textile fibre. The much prized munj is strong, elastic and has a, 

 wonderful power of enduring moisture without decaying. It is extensively 



Delhi Mats. employed in the manufacture of cordage, ropes, the famed Delhi mats, and in 



the preparation of baskets, etc. Munj 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. These are largely produced in Allahabad, 

 Agra, Delhi, and are traded in all over India, and within recent years have 

 begun to find their way to Europe (see Mats, etc., p. 777). In the early spring 

 the old grass is often fired, when shortly after a crop of young leaves is 

 produced from the stools, which is much valued as fodder. 



D.E.P., S. SPONTANEUM, Linn.; Fl. Br. Ind., vii., 118-9. This has received various 



vi., pt. ii., names, SUCll as J*. H>f/yittincttin, Willd., S. fteiij/rtlenwe, Ham. (Buf/n, Caul, Lola and 



112. lean Hint, .s'. caimHfiifatit>n,Roxb. It is the kdsd of Sanskrit, and in the vernaculars 



Kans ^ le ^" n<9 > kosa, kagara, kus, kds, kdnsi, rara, jasha, padar, rellu-gaddi, billu-gaddi, 



thetkiakyn,etc.,etc.(seep. 1122). Is contrasted with a>.<ii-niitiinii<-etint in the above. 

 Throughout the warmer parts of India and Ceylon, ascending to 6,000 feet 

 in altitude. Is most at home in damp low-lying land, where it throws up flower- 

 ing stems often 12 feet in height. Is gregarious, the snowy white pubescence 

 which surrounds the base of the spikelets rendering it a conspicuous feature of 

 Seasons. the vegetation when a,t all prevalent. It flowers soon after the close of the rains. 



Owing to its vigorous growth it is difficult to eradicate, hence often becomes a 

 troublesome weed, especially in the tea plantations of Assam and Bengal. [Cf. 

 Batchelor, Agri. Journ. Ind., 1906, i., pt. ii., 152-8.] The grass is large and 

 coarse and is used mainly as a thatching material. The leaves, sheaths, etc., are 

 twisted into rope and worked up into mats, but are inferior to munj for these 

 purposes. As a fodder plant it is usually regarded as superior to the former 

 species, and is specially valued for feeding buffaloes. The culms are also much 

 more highly prized for the manufacture of Native pens. [Cf. The Bower Manu- 

 script (Hoernle, transl., 1893-7), 96, 106, 122, etc.] 



S. offieinarum, Linn., Sp. PL, 1753, 54; FL Br. Ind., vii., 118; 

 Rumphius, Herb. Amb., 1750, v., 186-91, t. 74 ; McFadyen, in Hook., Bot. 

 Misc., 1830, i., 95-115, t. 26 ; Roxb., FL Ind., i., 237 ; Kohler, Med.- 

 Pflanzen Alias, ii., 169 ; Hackel, Monog. Androp., in De Candolle. Monog. 

 Phaner, vi., Ill ; Kriiger, Das Zuckerrohr und Seine Kultur, 1899; GRA- 

 MINE^E. The Sugar-cane, ukh, uk, us, ikh, ik, dk, aku, ikhari, rikhu, serdi. 

 sheradi, gannd, ghenra, nai-shakar, kumad, kushiar, puri, cheruku, charki, 

 khabbu, karumbu, karnipa, lebu, keyan, kydn, etc., etc. The majority 

 of these names denote the cane-plant, others doubtless the sugar. The 

 selection given is, however, fairly representative of the names in current 

 use in India. In the Malay Archipelago the cane is known as tabu and in 

 China as kan-che, a word believed to be derived from the Sanskrit khanda, 

 a name for sugar. As a cultivated plant cane is widely distributed in India 

 and numerous very distinctive forms exist, some of them known from the 

 earliest historic times, others introduced quite recently. 



Crystallised. History. The Sanskrit name for the plant is ikshu, of which the modern 



corruptions are ikh, ukh, and unkh. Mention is also directly made of the sugar- 

 cane in the Athervaveda (Bloomfield, transl., xlii., 100, 277). The name sarkard 

 is similarly given by the very earliest Sanskrit writers for white sugar, and it 

 originally denoted " grit " or " gravel," hence its special signification as crystal- 

 lised sugar. The name khanda (an ancient name for sugar), the root of which 

 means to crush, may be considered to denote sugar from the sugar-cane 

 rather than from palm-juices, where no crushing in any form is pursued. 

 By modern usage, however, it became restricted, like its English derivative 



Candy. " candy," to a special form of crystallised sugar the sugar-candy (sarkar-khandi). 



930 



Thatch. 



Fodder. 



D.E.P., 



vi., pt. ii., 



3-11. 



Sugar-cane. 



Vernacular 

 Names. 



