JOURNAL OF MEIM, RESEARCS 
Yol. XXX Washington, D. C., February 1 , 1925 No. 3 
ANATOMY OF THE VEGETATIVE ORGANS OF SUGAR 
CANE 1 
By Ernst Artschwager 
Associate Pathologist, Office of Sugar-Plant Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, 
United States Department of Agriculture 
INTRODUCTION 
The vegetative organs of the grasses 
have been the subject of very extensive 
studies, and certain structures, like the 
vascular bundles of the stem, are famil¬ 
iar to elementary students of botany. 
The more difficult features of the inner 
structure of this group of plants have 
also received the close attention of 
plant anatomists, but it was only after 
many unsatisfactory attempts that a 
correct understanding was reached, as, 
for example, in the account by von 
Mohl ( 13 ) 2 of the relationship of the 
leaf traces. The peculiar and variable 
structure of the leaves was made the 
object of extensive studies especially by 
Duval-Jouve ( 5 ). Strasburger (16) 
has given an excellent account of the 
course of the leaf traces in Zea mays , a 
plant which in many respects is closely 
akin in structure to the sugar cane. 
The works of Kobus (10), Beneke (1), 
Wiesner (19), Kruger (11), Geerts (6), 
Dickhoff (4), Kuyper (12), Bremekamp 
(2, 3), Kamerling (8), Venkatraman 
(18), and Takenuchi (17) deal with 
certain phases of the anatomy of sugar 
cane (Saccharum officinarum L.), and 
fragmentary accounts are found here 
and there in connection with studies of 
sugar-cane diseases. 
Additional work on the anatomy of 
sugar cane has seemed desirable, since 
none of the existing publications give a 
complete and sufficiently detailed pic¬ 
ture of the inner structure of the plant, 
and even these publications are acces¬ 
sible to but few. 
THE PLANT 
The variety Louisiana Purple (Black 
Cheribon) (pi. 1) which has been 
selected for study is a representative 
of the large group of varieties within 
the species Saccharum officinarum, or 
the so-called “noble canes’’ as distin¬ 
guished from the more slender-stalked 
prolific-stooling groups of varieties, of 
which the well-known Uba is typical, 
and from the well-defined group of 
exceedingly thin-stemmed canes of 
northern India, like the Chunnee and 
Ruckee. The two latter groups of 
varieties exhibit differences which prob¬ 
ably entitle them to specific rank, ac¬ 
cording to J. Jeswiet of the Proefstation 
voor de Java-Suikerindustrie. 3 The 
Louisiana Purple variety is a stout grass 
with solid juicy stems, broad flat leaves 
and large plumelike inflorescences. 
The stem is from 3 to 5 m. tall and 
about 4 cm. thick; it is composed of 
nodes and inter nodes. The latter are 
commonly barrel-shaped or cylindrical 
and disposed linearly one above the 
other. They are of even thickness ex¬ 
cept in the underground part, where 
they taper to a cone (fig. 1). 
1 Received for publication May 2,1924; issued April, 1925. 
2 Reference is made by number (italic) to “Literature cited," p. 221. 
3 Not published but communicated verbally by Jeswiet to E. W. Brandes, pathologist in charge, 
Office of Sugar Plant Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. 
EXPLANATORY LEGEND FOR PLATE 1 
Anatomy of the Vegetative Organs of Sugar Cane. 
A —Node and internode of mature stem of Louisiana Purple. The colors are natural except in the cut 
surface; the latter is a reproduction of the colors obtained by leaving the material in potassium 
bi-chromate. The vascular bundles appear white. 
3 .—Base of leafsheath. The sheath-joint appears as a light colored and smooth, somewhat protruding 
shoulder. 
C. —Blade joint; the flanges of the joint are brown and pubescent. 
D. —Cross section through a mature leaf. The chloroplasts are colored green; the lignified tissue red. 
X234. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, 
Washington, D. C. 
Vol. XXX, No. % 
Feb. 1, 1925. 
Key No. G-448 
13951—25f-1 
(197) 
