H. 0. SALICINE&. 1367 



Ovary smooth ; stigmas 2, densely plumose, purple. Fruit not 

 known. (Duthie.) 



Uses : — The root of the sugarcane is said to have been 

 employed in medicine, and to have been considered demulcent 

 and diuretic (U. C. DuttJ. In Arabian works on Materia Medica, 

 sugar is described as detergent and emollient, and is prescribed 

 in doses of twenty direms. Many writers speak of it as attenuant 

 and pectoral. It has also been supposed to have virtues in 

 calculous complaints (Ainslie). In the Panjab, Baden Powell 

 says, sugar is considered by the Natives to be " heavy, tonic, 

 and aperient, useful in heat delirium and disorders of the bile 

 and wind." In another part of his work he remarks : " In cases 

 of poisoning by copper, arsenic or corrosive sublimate, sugar 

 has been successfully employed as an antidote, and white sugar 

 finely pulverised is occasionally sprinkled upon ulcers with 

 unhealthy granulations. The Hindus set a great value upon 

 sugar, and in medicine it is considered by them as nutritious, 

 pectoral, and anthelmintic." The use of sugar as an antidote for 

 arsenical poisoning is alluded to by many writers (Chisholm, 

 Voigt, and others). 



1335. S. arundinaceum, Retz., h.f.b.i., vii. 119. 



Syn. : — Saccharum ciliare, Anders. S. Sara, Roxb. 82. 



Sans. : — Gundra, tejanaka, shara. 



Vern. : — Sara, sarkanda, sarpat, ramsar, munja, sarhar, ikar 

 patawar Palwa (H.) ; Sar, (B.) ; Sar (Santal) ; Sarkara, sarjbar, 

 kharkana, kanda (Pb.) ; Darga, karre (Trans-Indus) ; Sar (Sind) ; 

 Gundra, ponika, (TeD 



The following names are also given to certain portions of 

 the plant in different localities : — Munj (leaf-sheaths), Sar (leaves) 

 (Pb.) ; Bind or vind, culm or flowering stem (Doab) ; Sararhi 

 (E. Districts of U. P.) ; Sentha, kana, lower portion of flower- 

 ing stem; Sirki, til, upper portion of flowering stem; Thili, 

 upper portion of flowering stem (Lahore) ; Majori, the entire 

 flowering stem ; Tilak, tilon, the flowers (Pb.) ; Ghua, the 

 flowers (E, Districts, U. P.). 



Habitat : — North- West India. 



