Wandered this troop of truant stars.
—Cora A. Matson Dolson, in Lippincott’s Magazine.
SUGAR CANE.
(Saccharum officinarum.)
FROM KŒHLER’S MEDICINAL-PFLANZEN.
Description of plate: A, plant much reduced; B, stem portion with leaf; C, inflorescence; 1-6, parts of flower.
SUGAR-CANE.
(Saccharum officinarum Lin.)
Has God then given its sweetness to the cane,
Unless His laws be trampled on—in vain?
—Cowper: Charity, 190.
This highly important plant belongs to the grass family. It is perennial, with thick, succulent, jointed rhizomes, having root tufts at the joints. The stems are numerous, erect, cylindrical, growing to a height of six to twelve feet. Like the rhizome, the stem is jointed, the internodes being, however, much shorter toward the base. The leaves are numerous toward the apex, being deciduous toward the base. The apical tuftlike inflorescence is quite characteristic. The individual flowers are small and unattractive in appearance. One of the remarkable things about the plant is that the fruit never matures. It must be remembered that the plant referred to is entirely distinct from the so-called sugar-cane of the Central States from which sorghum molasses is made.