SUGAR CANE --Saccharum officinarum--

Really cool huge grass - up to 10x10 feet! Long, gray-green leaves with dramatic pale purple-pink pampas-like plumes 2-3 feet taller in fall. Sun to part shade. Used in India for its fibers and stems, and medicinally. Youngest leaves can be eaten as a vegetable. First domesticated in New Guinea, grown for sugar and ethanol. Sugar can be extracted, and the stems can also be chewed as a sweet snack.